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THE 



HISTORY AND POETRY 



FINGER-KINGS 



CHARLES EDWARDS 



COl NSELLOK AT LAW, NEW-YORK 



" My ring I hold dear as my finger ; 'tis part of it." 

SnAKSPEAI 







BEDFIELD 

110 AND 112 NASSAU STREET, NEW-YORK 
1 855 




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'■■■. 



S* 



> 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S54, by 

CHARLES EDWARDS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District 
of New- York. 



Typography of 

TUBES, NESMITH & TEALL, 

Q9 Beekman street. 



THE AUTHOR 



DEDICATES THIS WORK 



TO niS FRIEND, 



ANTHONY BAECLAY, ESQUIEE, 

II. C. M.'S CONSUL AT THE TORT OF NEW-YORK : 

A 

RIPE SCHOLAR 



AND 



TRUE GENTLEMAN. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER ONE. 

1. Interest and Importance attaching to Eings ; Shakspeare's Eing ; Earl 
Godwin. 2. Words symbolum and ungulus. 3. Bing-money. 4. Eings in 

St Mythology ; Theseus ; Erometheus, Inventor of the First Eing. 5. Seals 
from the Scarabasus. 6. Eings in Greek Urns. 7. Judah and Tamar ; Al- 
exander. 8. Eing a Symbol of Fidelity, Eternity and of the Deity. 9. Eo- 
man Eings. 10. Eings in German Caverns. 11. Eings of the Gauls and 
Britons. 12. Anglo-Saxon Workers in Metal. 13. Ladies' Seal-rings. 
14. Substance, Forms and Size of Eings ; Number, and on what fingers 
worn; Fearls ; Carbuncle ; Death's-head Eings. 15. Law of Eings. 16. Or- 
der of the Eing. 17. Eings found in all places. 18. Eersian Signets. 
19. Value of ancient Eings. 20. Love's Telegraph, and Name-rings ; Folish 
Birth-day Gifts. 21. Eings in Heraldry. 22. Eings in Fish. 23. Riddle. 
24. Ring misapplied. 25. Horace Walpole's Foesy on a Ring 9 



CHAPTER TWO. 

RINGS CONXECTFD WITH POWER. 

TM.. The Ring an Emblem of Power ; Pharaoh: Quintus Curtius ; Antiochus 
Epiphanes ; Augustus ; King of Persia ; Egypt under the Ptolemies ; Ro- 
man Senators ; the Forefinger. 2. Rings used in Coronations ; Edward the 
Second ; Mother of Henry VIII. ; Queen Elizabeth ; Charles II. ; Coro- 
nation Eings; Canute; Sebert; Henry II. ; Childeric; Matilda, wife cf 
William the Conqueror. 3. King withdrawing a Broceeding from the 
Council by the use of a Eing. 4. The Doge of Venice marrying the Adriatic. 
5. The Eing of Office of the Doge. 6. The Fisherman 's Eing. 7. Papal 
Eing of Pius II. 8. Investiture of Archbishops and Bishops by delivery 
of a Eing ; Cardinal's Eing ; Extension of the two Forefingers and Thumb. 
9. Serjeant's Eing. 10. Arabian Princesses. 11. Soman Knights. 12. Al- 
derman's Thumb Eing. 65 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAP TEE THREE. 

RINGS HAVING SUPPOSED CHARMS OR VIRTUES, AND CONNECTED WITH DEGRADATION 
AND SLAVERY, OR USED FOR SAD OR WICKED PURPOSES. 

yCl. Antiquity of Amulets and Enchanted and Magical Kings; Samothracian 
Kings; Double Object in Amulets ; Substance and Form of them. 2. Pre- 
cious Stones and their Healing or Protective Powers : Jasper ; Diamond ; 
Kuby ; Carbuncle ; Jacinth ; Amethyst ; Emerald ; Topaz ; Agate ; Sapphire ; 
Opal ; Cornelian ; Chalcedony ; Turquoise ; Coral ; Loadstone ; Sweating 
vC Stones. 3. Enchanted Kings; those possessed by Execustns ; Solomon's 
King ; Ballads of Lambert Linkin and Hynd Horn. 4. Talismanic King ; 
Elizabeth of Poland; Ring against Poison offered to Mary of Scotland; 
Rings from the Palace at Eltham and from Coventry ; Sir Edmund Shaw ; 
„ Shell King. 5. Medicinal Rings. 6. Magical Rings; Ariosto; Ring of 
'" "Gyg es 5 Sir Tristram ; Cramp Rings ; Rings to cure Convulsions, Warts, 
Wounds, Fits, Falling Sickness, etc.; Galvanic Rings; Headache and 
Plague Rings ; Amulet against Storms. 7. Ordeal. 8. Punishment in 
time of Alfred. 9. Founding of Aix-la-Chapelle. 10. Ring on a Statue. 
11. Bloody Baker. 12. The Borgia Ring. 13. Rings held in the Mouth. 
14. Rings used by Thieves, Gamblers and Cheats. 15. Roman Slave. . 93 

/ 
CHAPTER FOUR. 

RINGS COUPLED WITH REMARKABLE HISTORICAL CHARACTERS OR CIRCUMSTANCES. 

1. Ring of Suphis; Pharaoh's Ring given to Joseph- 2. Rings of Hannibal ; 
Mithridates ; Pompey ; Ca3sar ; Augustus and Nero. 3. Cameo. 4. Ethel- 
woulf; Madoc; Edward the Confessor ; King John; Lord L' Isle ; Richard 
Bertie and his Son Lord Willoughby ; Great Earl of Cork ; Shakspeare's 
Signet-Ring ; The Ring Queen Elizabeth gave to Essex ; Ring of Mary of 
Scotland and one sent by her to Elizabeth ; Darnley ; The Blue Ring ; Duke 
of Dorset's Ring in the Isle of Wight supposed to have belonged to Charles 
the First, and Memorial Rings of this Monarch ; Earl of Derby ; Charles 
the Second ; Jeffrey's Blood-Stone ; The great Dundee ; Nelson ; Scotch 
Coronation Ring ; The Admirable Crichton ; Sir Isaac Newton ; Kean ; 
Wedding Ring of Byron's Mother. 5. Matrons of Warsaw. 6. The Prus- 
sian Maiden. „ . 147 



CHAPTER FIYE. 

RINGS OF LOVE, AFFECTION AND FRIENDSHIP. 

1. The Gimmal or Gimmow Ring. 2. Sonnet by Davison. 3. Church Mar- 

' riage ordained by Innocent III. ; and, Marriage-Ring. 4. Rings used in 

different countries in Marriages and on Betrothment : Esthonia ; the Copts ; 



CONTENTS. Vll 

Persia; Spain ; Ackmetchet in Kussia. 5. Betrothal Rings. 6. Signets of 
the first Christians. 7. Laws of Marriage. 8. Wedding Finger; Artery to 
the Heart ; Lady who had lost the King Finger. 9. Roman Catholic Mar- 
riages. 10. Marriage-King during the Commonwealth, 11. King in Jew- 
ish Marriages.^SL2. Superstitions. 13. Rings of twisted Gold-wire given 
away at Weddings. 14. Cupid and Psyche. 15. St. Anne and St. Joachim. 
16. Rush Rings. 17. Rings with the Orpine Plant. 18. Ancient Marriage- 
Rings had Mottoes and Seals. 19. The Sessa Ring. 20. Rings bequeathed 
or kept in Memory of the Dead : Washington ; Shakspeare ; Pope ; Dr. 
Johnson; Lord Eldon; Tom Moore's Mother. 21. The Ship Powliattan. 
22. Ring of Affection illustrated by a Pelican and Young. 23. Bran of 
Brittany. 24. Rings used by Writers of Fiction ; Shakspeare's Cymbe- 
line. 25. Small Rings for the Penates ' Lines to a Wife with the gift of a 
Ring. 26. Story from the " Gesta Romanorum. 1 ' 195 



HISTORY AKD POETEY 



FINGER-RINGS. 



CHAPTER ONE. 

1. Interest and Importance attaching to Kings ; Shakspeare's Eing ; Earl 
Godwin. 2. Words symbolum and ungulus. 3. Bing-money. 4. Eings in 
Mythology; Theseus; Prometheus Inventor of the First Eing. 5. Seals 
from the Scarabasus. 6. Eings in Greek Urns. 7. Judah and Tamar ; Al- 
exander. 8. Eing a Symbol of Fidelity, Eternity, and of the Deity. 9. Eo- 
man Eings. 10. Eings in German Caverns. 11. Eings of the Gauls and 
Britons. 12. Anglo-Saxon Workers in Metal. 13. Ladies' Seal-rings. 
14. Substance, Forms and Size of Eings ; Number, and on what fingers 
worn ; Pearls ; Carbuncle ; Death's-head Eings. 15. Law of Eings. 16. Or- 
der of the Eing. 17. Eings found in all places. 18. Persian Signets. 
19. Value of ancient Eings. 20. Love's Telegraph, and Name-rings ; Polish 
Birth-day Gifts. 21. Eings in Heraldry. 22. Eings in Fish. 23. Eiddie. 
24. Eing misapplied. 25. Horace Walpole's Poesy on a Eing. 

§ 1. A circle, known as a finger-ring, has been an 

object of ornament and of use for thousands of years. 

Indeed, the time when it was first fashioned and worn 

is so far in the past that it alone shines there ; all around 

is ashes or darkness. 

1* 



10 II I S T O K Y AND l'OETEY 

This little perfect figure may seem to be a trifling mat- 
ter on which to found an essay ; and yet we shall find it 
connected with history and poetry. It is, indeed, a small 
link, although it has hound together millions for better 
for worse, for richer for poorer, more securely than could 
the shackle wrought for a felon. An impression from it 
may have saved or lost a kingdom. It is made the sym- 
bol of power; and has been a mark of slavery. Love 
has placed it where a vein was supposed to vibrate in 
the heart. Affection and friendship have wrought it 
into a remembrance ; and it has passed into the grave 
upon the finger of the beloved one. 

And, though the ring itself may be stranger to us, and 
might never have belonged to ancestor, friend or com- 
panion, yet there can be even a general interest about 
such a slight article. For instance, a few years ago a 
ring was found which had belonged to Shakspeare, and 
must have been a gift : for the true-lover's knot is there. 
Who would not desire to possess, who would not like 
even to see the relic % There is reason to suppose that 
this ring was the gift of Anne Hathaway, she " who had 
as much virtue as could die." And we must be allowed 
to indulge in the idea that it was pressing Shakspeare's 
finger when those lines were inscribed " To the idol of 
mine eyes and the delight of my heart, Anne Hatha- 
way:" 

" Talk not of gems, the orient list, 
The diamond, topaz, amethyst, 
The emerald mild, the ruby gay : 
Talk of my gem, Anne Hathaway! 
She hath a way, with her bright eye, 
Their various lustre to defy, 



1< FINGEK-KINGS, ll 

•The jewel she, and the foil they, 
So sweet to look Aime hath a way. 

She hath a way, 

Anne Hathaway, 
To shame bright gems Anne hath a way /"* 

We shall find many interesting stories connected with 
rings. By way of illustration, here is one : 

In a battle between Edmund the Anglo-Saxon and 

* The poem from which this stanza is taken has now become so scarce, 
and is so pleasing, that we are induced to insert it in this note : 

TO THE IDOL OF MINE EYES AND THE DELIGHT OF MINE HEART, 
ANNE HATHAWAY. 

Would ye be taught, ye feathered throng, 
With love's sweet notes to grace your song, 
To pierce the heart with thrilling lay, 
Listen to mine Anne Hathaway ! 
She hath a way to sing so clear, 
Phoebus might wond'ring stop to hear ; 
To melt the sad, make blithe the gay, 
And nature charm, Anne hath a way : 

She hath a ivay, 

Anne Hathaway, 
To breathe delight Anne hath a ivay. 

When envy's breath and rancorous tooth 

Do soil and bite fair worth and truth, 

And merit to distress betray, 

To soothe the heart Anne hath a way ; 

She hath a ivay to chase despair, 

To heal all grief, to cure all care, 

Turn foulest night to fairest day : 

Thou know'st, fond heart, Anne hath a way, 

She hath a way, 

Anne Hathaway, 
To make grief bliss Anne hath a way. 

Talk not of gems, the orient list, 
The diamond, topaz, amethyst, 
The emerald mild, the ruby gay : 
Talk of my gem, Anne Hathaway ! 



12 HISTORY AND POETRY 

Canute the Dane, the army of the latter was defeated 
and fled ; and one of its principal captains, Ulf, lost his 
way in the woods. After wandering all night, he met, 
at daybreak, a young peasant driving a herd of oxen, 
whom he saluted and asked his name. ■" I am Godwin, 
the son of Ulfnoth," said the young peasant, " and thou 
art a Dane." Thus obliged to confess who he was, Ulf 
begged the young Saxon to show him his way to the 
Severn, where the Danish ships were at anchor. " It is 
foolish in a Dane," replied the peasant, " to expect such 
a service from a Saxon ; and, besides, the way is long, 
and the country people are all in arms." The Danish 
chief drew off a gold ring from his finger and gave it to 
the shepherd as an inducement to be his guide. The 
young Saxon looked at it for an instant with great ear- 
nestness, and then returned it, saying, "I will take 
nothing from thee, but I will try to conduct thee." 
Leading him to his father's cottage, he concealed him 

She hath a way, with, lier bright eye, 
Their various lustre to defy, 
The jewel she aud the foil they, 
So sweet to look Anne hath a way. 

She hath a way, 

Anne Hathaway, 
To shame bright gems, Anne hath a ivay. 

But were it to my fancy given 

To rate her charms, I'd call them Heaven ; 

Tor though a mortal made of clay, 

Angels must love Anne Hathaway. 

She hath a way so to control 

To rapture the imprisoned soul, 

And sweetest Heaven on earth display, 

That to be Heaven Anne hath a way ! 

She hath a way, 

Anne Hathaway, 
To be Heaven's self Anne hath a way. 



OF FINGER -RINGS. 13 

there during tlie day ; and when night came on, they 
prepared to depart together. As they were going, the 
old peasant said to Ulf, ■" This is my only son Godwin, 
who risks his life for thee. He cannot return among his 
countrymen again ; take him, therefore, and present him 
to thy king, Canute, that he may enter into his service." 
The Dane promised, and kept his word. The young 
Saxon peasant was well received in the Danish camp ; 
and rising from step to step by the force of his talents, 
he afterwards became known over all England as the 
great Earl Godwin. He might have been monarch; 
while his sweet and beautiful daughter Edith or Ethels- 
with did marry King Edward. " Godwin," the people 
said in their sono;s, contrasting the firmness of the father 
with the sweetness of the daughter, " is the parent of 
Edith, as the thorn is of the rose."* 

§ 2. The word syrribolivm, for a long time, meant a 
ring ; and was substituted for the ancient Oscan word 
ungulus. 

§ 3. In examining ancient rings, care must be taken 
not to confound them with coins made in the shape of 
rings. f The fresco paintings in the tombs of Egypt 
exhibit people bringing, as tribute, to the foot of the 
throne of Pharaoh, bags of gold and silver rings, at a 
period before the exodus of the Israelites. Great quan- 
tities of ring-money have been found in different coun- 
tries, including Ireland.^ 

* Chambers's Miscellany, vol. xr., No. 1S2. 

t Layard's Nineveh, ii. 318. 

% Papers read before the Irish Academy, 18S6. 



14 HISTORY AND POETRY 





Egyptian Ring-money. Celtic Ring-money. 

The ancient Britons had them. That these rings were 
used for money, is confirmed by the fact that, on being 
weighed, by far the greater number of them appear to 
be exact multiples of a certain standard unit. Layard 
mentions* that Dr. Lepsius has recently published a bas 
relief, from an Egyptian tomb, representing a man 
weighing rings of gold and silver, with weights in the 
form of a bull's head ; and Layard also gives a seem- 
ing outline of the subject, (although its description 
speaks of " weights in the form of a seated lion.") It is 
presumed that these rings are intended for ring-money ; 
the fact of weighing them strengthens this idea ; and 
see Wilkinson's Popular Account of the Ancient Egyp- 
tians, (revised,) ii. 148-9. 

§ 4. We not only find rings in the most ancient times, 
but we also trace them in mythology. 

Eish, in antediluvian period, were intelligent, had fine 
musical perception and were even affectionate. Thus, 
in relation to Theseus, the Athenian prince : Minos hap- 
pened to load Theseus with reproaches, especially on 
account of his birth ; and told him, that, if he were the 
son of Neptune, he would have no difficulty in going to 
the bottom of the sea ; and then threw a ring in to ban- 

* Babylon and Nineveh, 513. 



OF FINGER- KINGS. 15 

ter liim. The Athenian prince plunged in, and might 
have been food for fishes, had they not, in the shape of 
dolphins, taken him upon their backs, as they had done 
Arion, and conveyed him to the palace of Amphitrite.* 
It is not said whether she, as Neptune's wife, had a 
right to the jetsam, flotsam, and lagan, to the sweepings 
or stray jewelry of the ocean ; but she was able to hand 
Theseus the ring, and also to give him a crown, which 
he presented to the ill-used lady Ariadne, and it w^as 
afterwards placed among the stars. 

And, coupled with mythology, we have, according to 
the ancients, the origin of the ring. Jupiter, from 
revenge, caused Strength, Force and Vulcan to chain 
his cousin-german Prometheus to the frosty Caucasus, 
where a vulture, all the livelong day, banqueted his 
fill on the black viands of his hot liver. The god had 
sworn to keep Prometheus there (according to ITesiodf) 
eternally ; but other authors give only thirty thousand 
years as the limit. He who had punished did, for 
reasons, forgive ; but as Jupiter had sworn to keep 
Prometheus bound for the space of time mentioned, he, 
in order not to violate his oath, commanded that Pro- 
metheus should always wear upon his finger an iron 
ring, to or in which should be fastened a small fragment 
of Caucasus, so that it might be true, in a certain sense, 
that Prometheus still continued bound to that rock. 
Thus, as w^e have said, came the idea of the first ring, 
and, we may add, the insertion of a stone. :f 

While some writers, under this story, connect Prome- 

* Pliny, lib. ix. ; Pausanias in Attic. Poet., c. vi. ; Ovid. Fast., 1. v. ; 
Bannier, ii. 497. 
t Lib. i. c. 1. % Plin. lib. xiii. ; Montfaucon. 



16 II IS TO KY AND POETRY 

tlieus witli the first ring, Pliny still says that the in- 
ventor of it is not known, and observes that it was used 
by the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Persians and Greeks, 
although, as he thinks, the latter were unacquainted 
with it at the time of the Trojan war, as Homer does 
not mention it.* 

It has however been said that Dschemid, who made 
known the solar year, introduced the use of the ring.f 

Touching Pliny's notion of the antiquity of rings, 
there is, in Southey's " Commonplace Book," (second 
series, J) the following quotation from " Treasurie of 
Auncient and Moderne Times," (1619 :) " But the good 
olde man Plinie cannot overreach us with his idle argu- 
ments and conjectures, for we read in Genesis that Jo- 
seph, who lived above five hundred yeares before the 
warres of Troy, having expounded the dreame of Pha- 
raoh, king of ./Egypt, was, by the sayde prince, made 
superintendent over his kingdom, and for his safer pos- 
session in that estate, he took off his ring from his hand 
and put it upon Joseph's hand." . . . " In Moses's 
time, which was more than foure hundred yeares before 
Troy warres, wee find rings to be then in use ; for we 
reade that they were comprehended in the ornaments 
which Aaron the high priest should weare, and they of 
his posteritie afterward, as also it was avouched by Jo- 
sephus. Whereby appeareth plainly, that the use of 
rings was much more ancient than Plinie reporteth 
them in his conjectures : but as he was a Pagan, and 
ignorant in sacred writings, so it is no marvell if these 
things went beyond his knowledge." 

-Book of Costume, by a Lady of Bank, 21. 

t Arclioaologia Biblicr.. % P.*24G. 



OF FINGER-KINGS. 17 

It is pretended that seal-rings were an invention of 
the Lacedemonians, who, not content with locking their 
coffers, added a seal ; for which purpose they made use 
of worm-eaten wood, with which they impressed wax or 
soft wood; and after this they learned to engrave seals." 

§ 5. Cylinders, squares and pyramids were forms used 
for seals prior to the adoption of ring-seals. f These 
settled with the Greeks into the scarabasus or beetle, that 
is to say, a stone something like the half of a walnut, 
with its convexity wrought into the form of a beetle, 
while the flat under surface contained the inscription for 
the seal. The Greeks retained this derivable form until 
they thought of dispensing with the body of the beetle, 
only preserving for the inscription the flat oval which 
the base presented, and which they ultimately set in 
ring's. This shows how rin^-seals came into form. Manv 
of the Egyptian and other ring-seals are on swivel, and 
we are of opinion that the idea of this convenient form 
originated with the perforated cylindrical and other seals, 
which were, with a string passed through them, worn 
around the neck or from the wrist.J 

The sculpture of signets was, probably, the first use of 
gem engraving, and this was derived from the common 
source of all the arts, India.§ Signets of lapis lazuli and 
emerald have been found with Sanscrit inscriptions, pre- 
sumed to be of an antiquity beyond all record. The 
natural transmission of the arts was from India to Egypt, 



* Fuss's Eoman Antiquities. 

t Pictorial Bible, (Knight's Ed.,) Note to 1 Kings, eh. xxi. 

% Curiosities of Burial, (Chambers's Kepositoiy.) 

§ Dagley's Gems, Preface. 



18 HISTORY AND POETRY 

and our collections abound with intaglio and cameo 
hieroglyphics, figures of Isis, Osiris, the lotus, the croco- 
dile, and the whole symbolic Egyptian mythology 
wrought upon jaspers, emeralds, basalts, bloodstones, 
turquoises, etc. Mechanical skill attained a great excel- 
lence at an early period. The stones of the Jewish high- 
priests' breast-plate were engraved with the names of the 
twelve tribes, and of those stones one was a diamond (?). 
The Greek gems generally exhibit the figure nude ; the 
Romans, draped. The Greeks were chiefly intaglios. 

It is generally understood that the ancients greatly 
excelled the moderns in gem engraving, and that the art 
has never been carried to the highest perfection in modern 
times. Mr. Henry Weigall, however, states that "this',*. 
supposition is erroneous, and has probably arisen from, * 
the fact of travellers supposing that the collections of 
gems and impressions that they have made in Italy are 
exclusively the works of Italian artists ; such, however, 
is not the case, and I have myself had the satisfaction of , 
pointing out to many such collectors, that the most ad- 
mired specimens in their collections were the works of 
English artists."" 

§ 6. Rings have been discovered in the cinerary urns 
of the Greeks. These could hardly have got there 
through the fire which consumed the body, for vessels 
still containing aromatic liquids have also been discov- 
ered in the urns. It is very possible they were tokens 
of affection deposited by relations and friends. Such 
remembrances (as we shall see) are found in the graves 
of early Roman Christians. 

* Hottzappfel's Turning and Mechanical Manipulations, p. 1362. 



OF FINGEK-KINGS. 19 

Tlie idea that rings in Roman urns were secretly and 
piously placed there, is strengthened by the fact that it 
was contrary to the laws of Borne to bury gold with 
the dead.* There was one exception to this rule, which 
appears odd enough to readers of the nineteenth century, 
namely, a clause which permitted the burial of such gold 
as fastened false teeth in the mouth of the deceased, thus 
sparing the children and friends of the dead the painful 
task of pulling from their heads the artificial teeth which 
they had been accustomed to wear. It seems strange to 
find that these expedients of vanity or convenience were 
practised in Rome nearly two thousand years ago. 

MafYeif gives a description and enlarged illustration 
of a gold ring bearing a cornelian, whereon is cut the 
story of Bellerophon upon his winged horse, about to 
attack the chimera / and also a small but exquisite urn 
of porphyry, which contained funeral ashes and this ring. 
These were found in the garden of Pallas, freed man of 
Claudius; and Maffei reasonably makes out that the 
ring had belonged to him. Bellerophon is said to have 
been a native of Corinth, and Pallas was from that city. 
ISTero became emperor mainly through Pallas, and yet 
he sacrificed the latter to be master of his great riches. 
These relics thus possess much interest. Although a 
freed man, merely as such, had no right to wear a gold 
ring, yet Pallas gained the office of Praetor, and so was 
entitled to one. (In Plutarch's Galba, the freed man of 
the latter was honored with the privilege of wearing 
the gold ring for bringing news of the revolt against 
Nero.) 

* Chambers's Repository, (Curiosities of Burial.) 
t Gemma Antiehe, iii. 182. 



so 



JIlSTOBy AND POETBY 




§ 7. In the unpleasant story of Judah and Tamar, we 
see that the former left in pledge with the latter his sig- 
net.* This, most likely, was in the shape of a ring, 
although such signets were often worn from the wrist : 
for, in this case, he also pledged his bracelets. 

In the Scriptures, the signet ring is frequently named ; 
and Quintus Curtius tells us that Alexander wore one. 
After his fatal debauch, and finding himself past recov- 
ery, and his voice beginning to fail, he gave his ring to 
his general, Perdiccas, with orders to convey his corpse 
to the temple of Amnion. Being asked to whom he 



* Genesis, cli. xli. et seq. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 



21 



would leave his empire, he answered, " To the most 
worthy."* 

§ 8. The ring was generally the emblem of fidelity in 
civil engagements ; and hence, no doubt, its ancient use 
in many functions and distinctions. f A ring denoted 
eternity among the Hindoos, Persians and Egyptians; 
and Brahma, as the creator of the world, bears a ring in 
his hand. The Egyptian priests in the temple of the 
creative Phtha (Vulcan of the Greeks) represented the 
year under the form of a ring, made of a serpent having 
its tail in its mouth — a very common shape of ancient 
rings. Although Jupiter is often figured with attributes 
of mighty power, yet he is seldom coupled with a mark 

of eternity. There is, how- 
ever, a gem (an aqua-marine, 
engraved in hollow) of this 
deity holding a ring as the 
emblem of eternity.:}: 

Pythagoras forbade the use 
of the figures of gods upon 
rings, lest, from seeing their 
images too frequently, it 
should breed a contempt for 
them.g 

It has been attempted to 
connect with a ring the con- 
secration of a circle, as em- 
blematical of the Deity. Over the door of a Norman 
church at Beckforcl, in Gloucestershire, England, is a 




* Goldsmith. 

t And see La-yard's Nineveh, S39 ? 340. 



X Caylus, vol. iii. p. 157. 
§ Montfaticon. 



22 HISTORY AND POETRY 

rude bas-relief, representing the holy cross between the 
four beasts, used as symbols of the Evangelists. The 
" human form divine " appears to have been beyond the 
sculptor's power ; he has made a ring. The others are 
an eagle, lion, and bull.* 

§ 9. The Romans distinguished their rings by names 
taken from their use, as we do.f The excessive luxury 
shown in the number worn, and the value of gems and 
costly engraved stones in them, and the custom of wear- 
ing lighter rings in summer and heavier in winter, are 
among the most absurd instances of Roman effeminacy, 
(as we shall hereafter more particularly show.) J The 
case in which they kept their rings was called Dactylo- 
theca. No ornament was more generally worn among 
the Romans than rings. This custom appears to have 
been borrowed from the Sabines.§ They laid them 
aside at night, as well as when they bathed or were in 
mourning, as did suppliants. However, in times of sor- 
row, they rather changed than entirely put them aside ; 
they then used iron ones, taking oft* the gold rings. || It 
was a proof of the greatest poverty, when any one was 
obliged to pledge his ring to live. Rings were given by 
those who agreed to club for an entertainment. They 
were usually pulled off from the fingers of dying per- 
sons ; but they seem to have been sometimes put on 
again before the dead body was buried. 

There is no sign of the ring upon Roman statues before 

* Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xx., 1ST. S., 55. 

t Fuss's Eoman Antiquities, sec. 485. 

% Juvenal, Sat, VII. 

§ Adams's Roman Antiquities, 866, (Boyd's edit.) 

I Montfaucon. 



OF FINGER-KINGS. 23 

those of Numa and Servius Tullius. The rin^s were 
worn to be taken off or put on according to festivals, 
upon the statues of deities and heroes, and upon some of 
the emperors, with the Lituus ensculped, to show that 
they were sovereign pontiffs. 

This lituus is a crooked staff; and the Roman priests 
are represented with it in their hands. They, as augurs, 
used it in squaring the heavens when observing the flight 
3. It is traced to the time of Romulus, who being 
in divination, bore the lituus ; and it was called 
quirinalis, from Quirinus, a name of Romulus, 
iept in the Capitol, but lost when Rome was taken 
Gauls; afterwards, when the barbarians had 
quitted it, the lituus was found buried deep in ashes, 
untouched by the fire, whilst every thing about it was 
destroy sd and consumed.* Emperors appropriated to 
themselves the dignities of the office of high priest, f and 
hence this priestly symbol upon their medals, coins and 
signets. Although it is a common notion that the pasto- 
ral staff of the Church of Rome is taken from the shep- 
herd's crook, it may be a question whether it did not 
take its rise from the lituus f 

Brave times those Roman times for lawyers — or pat- 
rons, as they were called. Their clients were bound to 
give them the title of JRexj escort them to the Forum 
and the Campus Martins; and not only to make ordi- 
nary presents to them and their children or household, 
but, on a birth-day, they received from them the birth- 
day ring. It was worn only on that day .J 

There were rings worn by flute-players, very brilliant 
and adorned with a gem. 

* Plutarch's Numa. t Fuss, § 318. % Fosbroke, 247 ; Fuss, § 150. 




24 IT I S T R Y A N D P O E T R Y 

In the Sierra Elvira, in Spain, more than two hundred 
tombs and an aqueduct were discovered. .Several skele- 
tons bore the rings of Eoman knights; and some of 
them had in their mouths the piece of money destined 
to pay the ferryman Charon.* These skeletons crumbled 
into dust as soon as they were touched. What a perfect 
subject for a poem by Longfellow ! 

Roman stamps or large seals or brands have been 
found of quaint shapes. Some of them are in the form 
of feet or shoes. Drawings of them ap- 
pear in Montfaucon. They were fash- 
ioned to mark casks and other bulky 
articles. Caylus gives an illustration 
of a ring in the form of a pair of shoes, 
or rather, the soles of shoes. f 
Pliny observes that rings became so common at Rome, 
they were given to all the divinities ; and even to those 
of the people who had never w T orn any. Their divinities 
were adorned with iron rings — movable rings, which 
could be taken off or put on according to festivals and 
circumstances. 

§ 10. At Erpfingen in Germany, remarkable stalactical 
caverns have been discovered. Every where, and espe- 
cially in the lateral caves, human bones of extraordinary 
size, with bones and teeth of animals, now unknown, 
have been discovered, and there, with pottery, rings 
were found. 

§ 11. Rings were in use among the Gauls and Britons, 

* Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xviii., N. S., 527. t 4. vol. i. pi. lxxxix. 



OFFINOrEK-RINGS. 25 

but seemingly for ornament only. They are often found 
in British barrows. Anglo-Saxon rings were common.* 
"William de Belmeis gave certain lands to St. Paul's 
Cathedral, and at the same time directed that his gold 
ring set with a ruby should, together with the seal, be 
affixed to the charter for ever. The same thing was done 
by Osbart cle Camera, he granting to St. Paul's, in pure 
alms and for the health of his soul, certain lands ; giving 
possession by his gold ring, wherein a ruby was set ; and 
appointing that the same gold ring with his seal should 
for ever be affixed to the charter whereby he disposed 
of them.f 

Anglo-Saxon kings gave rings to their wittenagemojy 
and courtiers, and they to their descendants. 

§ 12. In metals the Anglo-Saxons worked with great 
skill. We read of the gold cup in which Powena drank 
to Yortigern. So early, perhaps, as the seventh century, 
the English jewellers and goldsmiths were eminent in 
their professions ; and great quantities of other trinkets 
were constantly exported to the European Continent. 
Smiths and armorers were highly esteemed, and even the 
clergy thought it no disgrace to handle tools 4 St. 
Dunstan, in particular, was celebrated as the best black- 
smith, brazier, goldsmith and engraver of his time. This 
accounts for the cleverness with which he laid hold of 
the gentleman in black : 

* Fosbroke's Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, 247. 

f Dug dale's History of St. Paul's ; and Archseologia, xvii. 316. 

% Eccleston's Introduction to English. Antiquities, 60, 61; and see 
Manufactures of Metal, 376 ; Hone's E very-Day Book, 671 ; Arcliseologia, 
iv. 54, 

2 



26 HISTORY AND POETRY 

" St. Dunstan stood in his ivy'd tower, 
Alembic, crucible, all were there ; 
"When in came Nick to play him a trick, 
In guise of a damsel, passing fair. 

Every one knows 

How the story goes : 
He took up the tongs and caught hold of his nose.'** 

§ 13. Ladies used seal-rino-s in the sixth century : but 
women of rank had no large seals till towards the be- 
ginning of the twelfth.f 

§ 14. There is scarcely a hard substance of which rings 
have not been composed. All the metals have been 
brought into requisition. First, iron ; then, as in Borne, 
it was mingled with gold. 

Conquerors wore iron rings, until Caius Marius chang- 
ed the fashion. He had one when he triumphed over 
King Jugurtha.'j: And while stones have lent their aid 
as garniture for metal, these too have made the whole 
hoop. 

We find rings of two stones ; such were those which 
the Emperor Yalerianus gave to Claudius. 

Near to the Pyramids, cornelian rings have been dis- 
covered. Rings of glass and other vitreous material have ' 
been found. Emerald rings were discovered at Pompeii, 
also glass used instead of gems. Some made entirely of 
one stone, as of amber, have been obtained. § 

"With the Egyptians, bronze was seldom used in rings, 
though frequently in signets. They were mostly of gold 

* Ingoldsby Legends, 223. + Fosbroke, 251. 

% Montfaucon. § Fosbroke's Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, 246. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 27 

and tliis metal seems to have been always preferred to 
silver. 

Ivory and blue porcelain were the materials of which 
those worn by the lower classes were made.* 

An ancient ring of jet has been dug up in England. 

There were some rings of a single metal, and others 
of a mixture of two ;f for the iron, bronze and silver 
w r ere frequently gilt, or, at least, the gold part was fixed 
with the iron, as appears from Artemidorus.J The 
Romans w T ere contented with iron rings a long time ; and 
Pliny assures us that Marius first wore a gold one in his 
third consulate. Sometimes the ring was iron, and the 
seal go]d ; sometimes the stone was engraven, and some- 
times plain ; and the engraving, at times, was raised, 
and also sunk. (The last were called gemmce ectyjxe^ 
the former gemmce sculpturdjprommente.) 

An incident, mentioned by Plutarch, shows how dis- 
tinctive was a gold ring.§ When Cinna and Caius 
Marius were slaughtering the citizens of Pome, the slaves 
of Cornutus hid their master in the house and took a 
dead body out of the street from among the slain and 
hanged it by the neck, then they put a gold ring upon the 
finger, and showed the corse in that condition to Marius's 
executioners ; after wdiich they dressed it for the funeral, 
and buried it as their master's body. 
' The rings of the classical ancients were rather incrust- 
ed than set in gold in our slight manner.^" 

The first mention of a Poman gold ring is in the year 

* Wilkinson's Manners of the Ancient Egyptians, 371. 

f Kees's Encyclopaedia — Title, Rings. 

X Lib. i. i. cap. 5. 

§ Life of Caius Marius. 

H Fosbrokc's Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, 246. 



28 HISTORY AND POETRY 

432 U. C. ; but they, at last, were indiscriminately worn 
by the Romans. Three bushels were gathered out of the 
spoils after Hannibal's victory at Cannae.* 

" Lovely soft pearls, the fanciful images of sad tears," 
have been used in rings from the time of the Latins. 
Cleopatra's drinking off the residuum of a pearl, worth 
three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, aside 
from luxurious extravagance, seems to be somewhat 
nasty ; but we are inclined to believe that this fond 
queen had faith in its supposed medicinal and talismanic 
properties : 

" Now I feed myself 

With most delicious passion." 

Pliny, the Horn an naturalist, gravely tells us that the 
oyster which produces pearls, does so from feeding on 
heavenly dew. Drummoncl thus translates him : 

" With open shells in seas, on heavenly dew, 
A shining oyster lusciously doth feed ; 
And then the birth of that ethereal seed 
Shows, when conceived, if skies look dark or blue."f 

Early English writers entertained the same notion ; 
and Boethius, speaking of the pearl-mussel of the Scotch 
rivers, remarks, that " These mussels, early in the morn- 
ing, when the sky is clear and temperate, open their 
mouths a little above the water and most greedily swal- 
low the dew of heaven ; and after the measure and quan- 
tity of the dew which they swallow, they conceive and 
breed the pearl. These mussels," he continues, " are so 

* Wilson's Archaeological Dictionary, Art. Rings. 
t Chambers's Miscellany. 



OF FINGEE-EOGS. 29 

exceedingly quick of touch and hearing, that, however 
faint the noise that may be made on the bank beside 
them, or however small the stone that may be thrown 
into the water, they sink at once to the bottom, knowing 
well in what estimation the fruit of their womb is to all 
people." In the East, the belief is equally common that 
these precious gems are 

" rain from the sky, 

"Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea." 

The ancient idea that pearls are generated of the dews 
of heaven, is pretty conclusively met by Cardanus,* who 
says it is fabulous, seeing that the shell fishes, in which 
they are conceived, have their residence in the very 
bottom of the depth of the sea. 

The charlatan Leoni de Spoleto prescribed the drink 
of dissolved pearls for Lorenzo the Magnificent, when he 
was attacked by fever aggravated by hereditary gout.f 

There was supposed to be a gem called a carbuncle, 
which emitted, not reflected, but native light.J Our old 
literature abounds with allusions to this miraculous gem. 
Shakspeare has made use of it in Titus Andvonicus, 
where Martius goes down into a pit, and, by it, discovers 
the body of Lord Bassianus; and calls up to Quintus 
thus :§ 

" Lord Bassianus lies embrewed here, 
All on a heap, like to a slaughter'd lamb, 
In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit. 

Quintus. If it be dark, how dost thou know 'tis he? 
Martius. Upon his bloody finger he doth wear 

* Cardanus, lib. vii. de Lapidibus. 
t Dumas' Celebrated Crimes — The Borgias. 
% Notes to Tallis's Edit, of Shakspeare. 
§ Act IV. Scene 2. 



30 HISTORY AND POETRY 

A precious ring, that lightens all the hole, 

Which, like a taper in some, monument, 

Doth shine upon the dead man's earthy cheek, 

And show the ragged entrails of this pit : 

So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus, 

When he by night lay bathed in maiden's blood." 

Ludovicus Yartomannus, a Roman, reporteth that the 
king of Pege (or Pegu), a city in India, had a carbuncle 
(ruby) of so great a magnitude and splendor, that by 
the clear light of it he might, in a dark place, be seen, 
even as if the room or place had been illustrated by the 
sunbeams. St. or Bishop Epiphanius saith of this gem, 
that if it be worn, whatever garments it be covered 
withal, it cannot be hid.* 

It was from a property of resembling a burning coal 
when held against the sun that this stone obtained the 
name carbionculus / which being afterwards misunder- 
stood, there grew an opinion of its having the qualities 
of a burning coal and shining in the dark. And as no 
gem ever was or ever will be found endued with that 
quality, it was supposed that the true carbuncle of the 
ancients was lost; but it was long generally believed 
that there had been such a stone. The species of car- 
buncle of the ancients which possessed this quality in the 
greatest degree was the Garamantine or Carthaginian; 
and this is the true garnet of the moderns. f 

Rings, with a death's head upon them, were worn by 
improper characters in the time of Elizabeth of Eng- 
land. This kind of ring is referred to in Beaumont and 
Eletcher : 

* Nichols's Lapidary, 54, 57 ; Kobell, 274. 
t Hill's Theophrastus, p. 75, notes n. y. 



OF FINGEE-EOGS. 31 



-I'll keep it, 



As they keep death's head in rings : 
To cry memento to me."* 

Although we meet with nothing to show the motive 
for wearing such rings by the characters referred to, we 
are inclined to fancy the desire was to carry the sem- 
blance of a widow and to let the ring have the character 
of a mourning token. Lord Onslow, who lived in the 
time of Elizabeth, bequeathed "a ring of gold with a 
death's head " to friends. f 

Sir Isaac Newton was possessed of a small magnet set 
in a ring, the weight of which was only three grains, but 
which supported, by its attractive power on iron, seven 
hundred grains. It has been observed that such in- 
stances are by no means common, although the smallest 
magnets appear to have the greatest proportionate 
power.J 

Our own sailors, in the quiet weather of a voyage, 
will, with the aid of a marlinspike, make exceedingly 
neat; rings out of Spanish silver or a copper coin. 

Some of the Egyptian signets were of extraordinary 
size. Sir Gardiner Wilkinson mentions an ancient Egyp- 
tian one which contained about twenty pounds worth of 
gold. It consisted of a massive ring, half an inch in its 
largest diameter, bearing an oblong plinth, upon which 
the devices were engraved ; on one face was the succes- 
sor of Amunoph III., who lived B. C. 1400 ; on the 
other a lion, with the legend, " Lord of strength," refer- 
ring to the monarch ; on the other side a scorpion, and 
on the remaining one a crocodile. 

* Chances, Act 1, Sc. 3. + Collins's Peerage. 

X Harris's Rudimentary Magnetism, 6. 




32 HISTORY AND POETRY 

In the work of Count Caylus, there 
is a vignette of a ring of bronze, re- 
markable from its size and the subject 
upon it* The collet or collar of the 
ring is an inch in height, and eleven 
lines in thickness. The figure upon it 
is an ox — or, as the author we have re- 
ferred to calls it, a cow, recumbent and 
swaddled, or covered by draperies ; and 
it wears a collar, to which hangs, according to this author, 
a bell. He considers that it was made when the Ro- 
mans wore them of an excessive size, and while Gaul 
was under the dominion of the former. He does not 
give any guess at the intention or meaning of the sub- 
ject. We believe it was, originally, Egyptian; and 
made in memory of the sacred Bull Apis, (found in 
tombs,) honored by the Egyptians as an image of the 
soul of Osiris and on the idea that his soul migrated 
from one Apis to another in succession. And as to what 
Caylus considers a bell, we are inclined to designate a 
bag. In Dr. Abbott's collection of Egyptian Antiquities 
are not only mummies of these sacred bulls, but also 
the skulls of others, and over the head of one is sus- 
pended a large bag, found in the pits with the bulls, and 
supposed to be used to carry their food. 

Addison, in observing upon the size of old Roman 
rings,f refers to Juvenal, as thus translated by Dry den : 

" Charged with light summer rings, his fingers sweat, 
Unable to support a gem of weight." 

And he goes on to say, that this " was not anciently 

* Recueil cTAntiquites. t Remarks on Italy. 



OF FIN 6EE-EIN GS 



33 



so great an hyperbole as it is now, for I Lave seen old 
Roman rings so very thick-about and with such large 
stones in them, that it is no wonder a fop should reckon 
them a little cumbersome in the summer season of so hot 
a climate." _ 

As a proof of the size to which Roman rings some- 
times reached, we here give an outline of one as it 
appears in Montfaucon. 




This ring bears the portrait of Trajan's good queen 
Plotina. The coiffure is remarkable and splendid, being 
composed of three rows of precious stones cut in facets. 

According to Pliny, devices were not put upon the 
metal of rings until the reign of Claudius. 

2* 



31 



HISTORY AND POETRY 



When a wealthy Egyptian had been embalmed and 
placed in a superb case or coffin, with a diadem on his 
head and bracelets upon his arms, rings of gold, ivory 
and engraved cornelian were placed upon his fingers.* 

Contrary to what might have been supposed, the 
British Museum is not rich in rings. Through a dear 
friend, the author is able to give drawings of a few of its 
treasures, and the following extract from a letter : " They 
can trace none of their rings with any certainty. The 
collection is not large, and has been bought at various 
times from other collections and private sources, which 
could give no history, or, if attempted, none that can be 
relied on. Mr. Franks, the curator of this department, 
kindly made the impressions I send of those he con- 
sidered most curious, and selected the others for me." 

Here is one of those rings. It 
bears the heads of Isis and Serapis. 
A similar ring (perhaps the same) 
is figured in Cay his, f who observes 
on the singularity of form and 
the ingenuity attendant upon shap- 
ing it, while it is considered ex- 
tremely inconvenient to wear. It 
would, however, suit all fingers, 
large or small, because it can be easily diminished or 
widened. The two busts are placed at the extremities of 
the serpent which forms the body of the ring contrari- 
wise — if we may be allowed the expression— -so that 
whatever position or twist is given to the ring, one of 
the two heads always presents itself in a natural position. 




* Curiosities of Burial — Chambers's Repository. 
+ Recueil d'Antiquites, Tom. ii. p. 310. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 



35 



The ring given by Caylus was found in Egypt, but is 
said to be of Roman workmanship and made when the 
former was under the dominion of the Romans ; and he 
hints that the heads may represent a Roman emperor 
and empress under the forms of Isis and Jupiter Serapis, 
adding, "I will not hazard any conjecture on the names 
that may be given them. I will content myself with 
saying that the work is of a good time and far removed 
from the lower empire ; and I will add, that the quantity 
of rings which were wrought for the Ro- 
mans of all the states may serve to explain 
the extraordinary forms which some present 
to us." 

Here is another, from the British Mu- 
seum, in which Isis and Serapis appear, 
singularly placed. This ring is Romano- 
Egyptian, and of bronze. 
Here are two, Etruscan, from the same source, with 
an impression from each. 




No. 1. 



No. 2. 





They are both of gold, while !No. 2 has a white stone 
which works upon a swivel. 




36 HISTORY AND POETRY 

We add, in this portion of our book, another 
from the British Museum. It is worked from 
Greek or Etruscan gold, and was found in the 
Abruzzi. 

Illustrations of some of the Egyptian seal- 
rings contained in the British Museum, will be 
found in Knight's Pictorial Bible, at the end 
of the third chapter of Esther. 

Fashion and Fancy have given us rings of all imagin- 
able shapes, and these powers, joined with Religion and 
Love, have traced upon them every supposable subject. 
Although modern rings seldom display the exquisite 
cutting and artistic taste which appear upon antiques, 
still the latter exhibit sentimental phrases and sentiments 
similar to such as are observed upon rings of the present 
day. The Greeks were full of gallantry. Time has 
preserved to us incontestable proofs of the vows which 
they made to mistresses and friends, as well as of the 
trouble they took and the expense they went to in order 
to perpetuate their sentiments. Cay his,* who says this, 
gives a drawing of a ring bearing the words KIPIA KAAH, 
Beautiful Oiria y and adds, " This inscription is simple 
but energetic ; it appears to me to suit the sentiment." 
In Montfaucon are several illustrations of Greek sentences 
upon rings, which carry out what Caylus has observed ; 
thus there are (rendered into English), Good be with you, 
Madam. Good be with you, Sir. Good be with him 
who wears you and all his household. Remember it. 
Theanus is my light. Upon a ring bearing a hand 
which holds a ring : Remember good fortune. There 
are, also, upon Roman rings, sentiment and compliment 

* Lib. iv., p. 172, PI. LVII. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 



37 




in Latin sentences, as thus translated : Live happy, my 
hostess. You have this pledge of love. Live in God. Live. 
And Cay lus* gives a description and drawing of a remark- 
ably formed gold ring ; and although it bears Greek words, 
he leaves it in doubt whether it is of Roman or Grecian 
workmanship. It has the appearance of three rings united, 
widened in the front and tapering within the hand. Upon 
the wide part of each are two letters, the whole forming 
ZHCAIC, Mayest thou live. The 
Eomans often preferred the Greek 
in their most familiar 



language 
customs. 

A ring of bronze has been discovered, in the form of 

a snake with its tail in its mouth, made on the principle 

of some of our steel rings which we use 

to hold household keys, widening their 

circle by pressure.*)- In the finger-ring, 

the part in the mouth is inserted loose, 

so as to draw out and increase to the 

size of the circle needed. 

Eings of gold are common in England at the present 

day, made to form a strap with buckles, precisely, in 

shape, a common belt or collar. It lies flat like an 

ordinary leather strap, and is formed 

of small pieces of gold which are kept 

so delicately together that the lines 

of meeting are scarcely perceptible. 





This is accomplished by having many minute and un- 

* Lib. v. p. 161. t Caylus, ii. 311. 



38 HISTORY AND POETRY 

seen hinges, which make the whole pliable and allow it 
to be buckled (as a ring) upon the finger. 

Nothing is new. One of the prettiest modern rings, 
used as a remembrancer, has a socket for hair and a 
closing shutter. Roman remains were found at He- 
ron val in Normandy, and among them were rings. One 
of these was almost of modern form, with a small place 
under where the stone is usually fixed, into which hair 
might be inserted.* We are constantly retracing the 
steps of antiquity. 

A Roman gold ring of a triangular form has been dis- 
covered in England, with an intaglio representing the 
story of Hercules strangling the Nemean lion.f And 
also a ring that, while it was remarkable for its thick- 
ness, had a whistle on one side, which was useful in call- 
ing servants before the time of domestic bells. J 

We shall find that there were rings in which poison 
was carried. 

Wilkinson has discovered several Egyptian rings, 
where the subject is made up of two cats sitting back to 
back, and looking round at each other, with an emblem 
of the goddess Athor between them. 

"We do not know why Athor, Venus, should be be- 
tween these sentinel cats. Had the symbol of Pasht, 
Diana, been there, the thing would have been less diffi- 
cult; for cats, like maids, "love the moon," and their 
guardian goddess was Pasht. Their attitude is more 
watchful than sacred cats would be supposed to assume, 
and might rather appear to apply to the species em- 
balmed in Kilkenny history. 

* Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. xviii., N. S., 527. 

+ Archffiologia, v. 71. X K>. viii. 430. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 39 

There is an Anglo-Saxon ring inscribed Alilstan, 
Bishop of Sherborne, which has the hoop of alternate loz- 
enges and circles. It has, also, a Saxon legend. Epi- 
graphs in that language are extremely rare. It has been 
supposed that Alilstan had command of the Saxon army.* 

In the catacombs of Rome, where the early Christians 
" wandered about in sheep-skins and goatskins, being 
destitute, afflicted, tormented,"* where they stealthily 
prayed and lived and died, vast quantities of signet 
and other rings have been discovered, as well as med- 
als, cameos and other precious stones. Signet rings of 
different devices, as belonging to different owners, are 
in the catacombs here ; and this has raised the idea that 
they were deposited by relatives and friends as the stone 
lid of the grave was about to be shut, — offerings of love 
and affection. f 

"What a picture," exclaims a writer in the London 
Art Journal, J " do these dark vaults display of the devo- 
tion, the zeal, the love of those early Christian converts 
whose baptism was in blood ! I picture them to myself, 
stealing forth from the city in the gloomy twilight, out 
towards the lonely Campagna, and disappearing one by 
one through well-known apertures, threading their way 
through the dark sinuous galleries to some altar, where 
life and light and spiritual food, the soft chanting of the 
holy psalms and the greeting of faithful brethren, waking 
the echoes, awaited them. The sight of these early 
haunts of the persecuted and infant religion is inexpress- 
ibly affecting; and I pity those, be they Protestant or 
Catholic, who can visit these hallowed precincts without 

* Heb. xi. 37, 38. t Fosbroke, 247 ; Arcliseologia, iv. 54. 

% Vol. iv. N.S., p. 224. 



40 



II I S T O E Y AND P O E T E Y 



an overwhelming emotion. How many martyrs, their 
bodies torn and lacerated by the cruel beasts amid the in- 
furiated roar of thousands shrieking forth the cry of Chris- 
tianas ad leonem ! in the bloody games of the Flavian am- 
phitheatre, breathing their last sigh, calling on the name 
of the Redeemer, have passed, borne by mourning friends 
or by compassionate widows or virgins to their last dark 
narrow home, along the very path I was now treading ! 
How many glorified saints, now singing the praises of 
the Eternal around the great white throne in the seventh 
heaven of glory, may have been laid to rest in these 
very apertures, lighted by a nickering taper like that I 
held. But I must pause — this is an endless theme, end- 
less as the glory of those who hover in eternal light and 
ecstatic radiance above ; it is moreover a paean I feel 
utterly unworthy to sing." 

We have received a drawing and im- 
pression of a ring which is in the British 
Museum ; and our opinion is that it be- 
longed to one of the early Christians. 
While the XAIPfl, I rejoice, upon it, 
favors the idea, the monogram (upon the 
signet part) confirms it. This is, evi- 
dently, the name of Jesus in its earliest 
monogrammatic form, made up of the 
letters X. and *I. As commonly found on 
monuments in the catacombs of Borne, it 
has a single cross with the C E. thus, 
while in our illustration the cross 
is multiplied ; and this is the only 
difference. Surely such a memorial as this is more likely 
to have been the ring of the lowly-minded " fisherman," 





OF FINGER-RINGS. 41 

than the one which is said to be framed with diamonds 
and worn by the Pope. In Dr. Kip's very interesting 
work on the Catacombs of Rome, there is an illustration 
of a seal-ring, upon which a like monogram appears, 
although somewhat complicated.* 

Near Cork, in Ireland, a silver ring was discovered, 
the hoop whereof is composed of nine knobs or bosses, 
which may have served instead of beads and been used 
by the wearer in the Catholic counting of them. The 
antiquaries of Ireland have considered this ring as very 
ancient, f 

In referring to Irish rings, it may be well to mention 
one which was found in the county of Westmeath, with 
some very ancient remains.^ It is remarkable, from 
being set with many diamonds in beautifully squared 




work. On account of the place where it was discovered, 
a suggestion has been made that it may have belonged 
to Rose Failge, Prince of Ireland, eldest son of Calhoir 
the Great, who reigned A. D. 122, he being called the 
Hero of Rings. However, diamonds do not appear to 
have been named among precious stones at that early 
period. 

* (Published by Eedfield,) p. 110. 

t Loud. Gent.'s Mag., Vol. xxiv. p. 2S5. 

X Arcbseologia, (London,) ii. 85. 



42 HISTORY AND POETRY 

The author is not aware that diamonds are often set 
loosely or upon swivel in a ring. We have mention of 
one in the reign of James I. of England. Robert Cecil, 
Earl of Salisbury, (nicknamed by a cotemporary "Robert 
the Devil," and by James called his "little Beagle,") 
w T as dangerously ill at Bath ; but on a report of his re- 
covery, the King sent purposely the Lord Hay to him, 
with a token, "which was a fair diamond, set or rather 
hung square in a gold ring without a foil" — and this 
message, " That the favor and affection he bore him was 
and should be ever, as the form and matter of that, end- 
less, pure and most perfect."" A writer, given to detrac- 
tion, says that this great statesman died of the disease of 
Herod, upon the top of a mole-hill ; and that his body 
burst the lead it was wrapped in. On his tomb lies the 
skeleton of the Earl curiously carved. He seemed well 
to weigh the glory of a courtier, for in writing to Sir 
John IIarrington,f he said : " Good Knight, rest content 
and give heed to one that hath sorrowed in the bright 
lustre of a Court, and gone heavily even on the best 
seeming fair ground. 'Tis a great, task to prove one's 
honesty and yet not spoil one's fortune. You have tasted 
a little hereof in our blessed Queen's time, who was 
more than a man, and, in truth, sometimes less than a 
woman. I wish I waited now in your presence chamber, 
with ease at my food and rest in my bed. I am pushed 
from the shore of comfort, and know not where the 
winds and waves of a Court will bear me. I know it 
bringeth little comfort on earth ; and he is, I reckon, no 
w T ise man that looketh this way to heaven." 

* Memorials of Affairs of State, iii. 80S. 
t Nugas Antiques, ii. 263. 



OF FINGER- EINGS 



43 




In the year one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty- two, 
some citizens of California pre- 
sented President Pierce with a 
gigantic ring. We here give 
an outline, and add a descrip- 
tion of it from Gleason's Pic- 
torial Newspaper for the 25th 
of December, 1852. 




" It is already pretty widely known to the public gen- 
erally, that a number of citizens of San Francisco have 



44 HISTORY AND POETRY 

caused to be manufactured and forwarded to Gen. 
Pierce, a most valuable and unique present, in the form 
of a massive gold ring, as a token of esteem for the Pres- 
ident elect. Of this ring our artist has herewith given 
us an admirable representation. It is a massive gold 
ring, weighing upwards of a full pound. This monster 
ring, for chasteness of design, elegance of execution, and 
high style of finish, has, perhaps, no equal in the world. 
The design is by Mr. George Blake, a mechanic of San 
Francisco. The circular portion of the ring is cut into 
squares, which stand at right angles with each other, and 
are embellished each with a beautifully executed design, 
the entire group presenting a pictorial history of Cali- 
fornia, from her primitive state down to her present flour- 
ishing condition, under the flag of our Union. 

"Thus, there is given a grizzly bear in a menacing atti- 
tude, a deer bounding down a slope, an enraged boa, a 
soaring eagle and a salmon. Then we have the Indian 
with his bow and arrow, the primitive weapon of self- 
defence ; the native mountaineer on horseback, and a 
Californian on horseback, throwing his lasso. Next 
peeps out a Californian tent. Then you see a miner at 
work, with his pick, the whole being shaded by two 
American flags, with the staves crossed and groups of 
stars in the angles. The part of the ring reserved for a 
seal is covered by a solid and deeply carved plate of 
gold, bearing the arms of the State of California in the 
centre, surmounted by the banner and stars of the United 
States, and inscribed with 'Frank Pierce,' in old Ro- 
man characters. This lid opens upon a hinge, and pre- 
sents to view underneath a square box, divided by bars 
of gold into nine separate compartments, each containing 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 45 

a pure specimen of the varieties of ore found in the 
country. Upon the inside is the following inscription : 
' Presented to Franklin Pierce, the Fourteenth President 
of the United States.' The ring is valued at $2000. 
Our engraving gives a separate view of the lid, so as to 
represent the appearance of the top of the ring both when 
it is open and when it is closed. Altogether, it is a mas- 
sive and superb affair, rich in emblematical design and 
illustration, and worthy its object." 

Pings appear to have been worn indiscriminately on 
the fingers of each hand. It would seem, however, from 
Jeremiah, that the Hebrews wore them on their right 
hand ; w^e there read that when the Lord threatened 
King Zedekiah with the utmost effects of his anger, he 
told him : " Though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king 
of Juclah, were the signet on my right hand, yet would 
I pluck thee thence."* 

Trimalchion wore two rings, one large and gilt, upon 
the little finger of his right hand, and the other of gold, 
powdered with iron stars, upon the middle of the ring- 
finger, f 

Among the Romans, before rings came to be adorned 
with stones, and while the graving w^as yet on the metal 
itself, every one wore them at pleasure on what hand and 
finger he pleased. When stones came to be added, they 
had them altogether on the left hand ; and it would have 
been held an excess of foppery to have put them on the 
right. 

Pliny says, they were at first worn on the fourth finger, 
then on the second or index, then on the little finger, and 
at last, on all the fingers excepting the middle one. 

* Jer. xxii. 2-1. t Montfuucon. 



46 II I S T O 11 Y A "N" D POETRY 

Clemens Alexandrinus lias it that men wore the rino; 
on the extremity of the little finger, so as to leave the 
hand more free. 

According to Aulns GeHius,* both the Greeks and 
Romans wore them on the fourth finger of the left 
hand ; and the reason he gives for it is this, that having 
found, from anatomy, that this finger had a little nerve 
that went straight to the heart, they esteemed it the most 
honorable by this communication with that noble part. 
Macrobius quotes Atteius Capito, that the right hand 
was exempt from this office, because it was much more 
used than the left, and, therefore, the precious stones of 
the rings were liable to be broken, and that the finger 
of the left hand was selected which was the least em- 
ployed.- 

Pliny says, the Gauls and ancient Britons wore the 
rino; on the middle finder. 

At first, the Romans only used a single ring ; then, 
one on each finger, and, at length, as we gather from 
Martial,t several on each. Afterwards, according to 
Aristophanes,^ one on each joint. Their foppery at 
length arose to such a pitch that they had their weekly 
rings. 

The beast Heliogabalus carried the point of using rings 
the farthest, for, according to Lampridius, he never wore 
the same rino; or the same shoe twice. 

Heliogabalus was a funny wretch : — he would fre- 
quently invite to his banquets eight old men blind of 
one eye, eight bald, eight deaf, eight lame with the gout, 
eight blacks, eight exceedingly thin, and eight so fat that 

* Lib. x. t Martial, Lib. xi., epiq. GO. 

X Aristophanes, in Nub., &c. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 47 

they could scarcely enter the room, and who, when they 
had eaten as much as they desired, were obliged to be 
taken out of the apartment on the shoulders of several 
soldiers. 

Egyptian women wore many, and sometimes two or 
three on one linger ; but the left was considered the hand 
peculiarly privileged to bear these ornaments ; and it is 
remarkable that its third was decorated with a greater 
number than any other and was considered by them as 
the ring finger.* This notion, as we have observed, the 
Grecians had. 

The idea of wearing rings on the fourth finger of the 
left hand, because of a supposed artery there which went 
to the heart, was carried so far that, according to Levinus 
Lemnius, this finger was called Medicus / and the old 
physicians would stir up their medicaments and potions 
with it, because no venom could stick upon the very 
outmost part of it but it will offend a man and commu- 
nicate itself to the heart. 

With regard to the translation of rings from the right 
to the left hand, it may be pleasing to refer to that 
charming old work, Enquiries into Vulgar and Common 
Errors, by Browne :f he says, "That hand [the left] 
being lesse employed, thereby they were best preserved, 
and for the same reason they placed them on this finger, 
for the thumbe was too active a finger and is commonly 
imployed with either of the rest : the index or fore finger 
was too naked whereto to commit their pretiosities, and 
hath the tuition of the thumbe scarce unto the second 
joynt : the middle and little finger they rejected as ex- 
treams, and too big or too little for their rings ; and of all 

* Wilkinson, f P. 1S5, Edit, of 1G46. 



48 II I S T O R Y AND POETRY 

chose out the.fourth as being least used of any, as being 
guarded on either side, and having in most this pecu- 
liar condition that it cannot be extended alone and by 
itselfe, but will be accompanied by some finger on either 
side." 

As to the Egyptians deriving a nerve from the heart 
in the fourth finger of the left hand, the priests, from this 
notion, anointed the same with precious oils before the 
altar. And Browne, in his Vulgar Errors, says, " The 
Egyptians were weak anatomists, which were so good 
embalmers."* 

In the General Epistle of St. James,f we have this : 
" For if there come unto your assembly a man with a 
gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a 
poor man in vile raiment ; and ye have respect to him 
that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou 
here in a good place ; and say to the poor, Stand thou 
there or sit here under my footstool : are ye not then 
partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil 
thoughts ?" In an illustrated edition of the New Testa- 
ment, it is said, the expression " with a gold ring " might 
very properly be rendered, " having his fingers adorned 
with gold rings ;" and that about the time referred to in 
the text, the wearing of many rings had become a fash- 
ion, at least among the master people, the Bomans, 
from whom it was probably adopted by persons of 
wealth and rank in the provinces. The custom is noticed 
by Arrian ; while Seneca, in describing the luxury and 
ostentation of the time, says, " We adorn our fingers 
with rings, and a jewel is displayed on every joint." 
There is a newspaper anecdote of an eminent preacher at 

* P. 185. t Chap, ii., v. 2. 



OF FINGEE-SINGS. 49 

Norwich, in England, which shows that he had the 
above verse (from the Epistle of St. James) in mind when 
it occurred. His Eeverence made a sudden pause in 
his sermon ; the congregation were panic-struck. Hav- 
ing riveted their attention, he addressed himself by name 
to a gentleman in the gallery. "Has that poor man 
who stands at the back of your pew a gold ring on his 
finger?" The gentleman turned round, and replied, "I 
believe not, sir." " Oh, then, I suppose that is the rea- 
son he must not have a seat." The gentleman had three 
gold rings on his hand; and his pew was nearly empty. 

Here is another anecdote of a priest, in worse taste 
than the last. Albert Pio, Prince of Caspi, was buried 
with extraordinary pomp in the Church of the Corde- 
liers at Paris. He had been deprived of his princi- 
pality by the Duke of Ferrara, became an author, and 
finally a fanatic. Entering one day into one of the 
churches at Madrid, he presented holy water to a lady 
who had a very thin hand, ornamented by a most beau- 
tiful and valuable rin^. He exclaimed in a loud voice 
as she reached the water, "Madam, I admire the ring 
more than the hand." The lady instantly exclaimed, 
with reference to the cordon or rope with which he was 
decorated, " And for my part, I admire the halter more 
than I do the ass." He was buried in the habit of a Cor- 
delier ; and Erasmus made a satire on the circumstance, 
entitled the "Seraphic Interment." 

The Hebrew women wore a number of rings upon 
their 'fingers.* 

Hippocrates, in treating of the decency of dress to be 
observed by physicians, enjoins the use of rings. Yv r e 

* Arclucologia Biblica, § 128-9 ; Wilkinson. 



50 HISTOEY AND POETEY 

have somewhere seen it suggested, that the rings thus 
worn by physicians might have contained aromatic water 
or preservative essence, in the same way as their canes 
were supposed to do ; and hence the action of putting 
the heads or tops of the latter to their noses when con- 
sulting in a sick-room. 

§ 15. The author deems it as well to refer to the law, 
in relation to rings. In common parlance, we consider 
precious stones to be jewels ; but rings of gold will pass 
by that word. In the time of Queen Elizabeth, the Earl 
of Northumberland bequeathed by his will his jewels to 
his wife, and died possessed of a collar of S's, and of a 
garter of gold, and of a button annexed to his bonnet, 
and also many other buttons of gold and precious stones 
annexed to his robes, and of many chains, bracelets 
and rings of gold and precious stones.* The question 
was, whether all these would pass by the devise under 
the name of jewels? It was resolved by the justices, 
that the garter and collar of S's did not pass, because 
they were not properly jewels, but ensigns of power 
and state; and that the buckle of his bonnet and the 
button did not pass, because they were annexed to his 
robes, and were no jewels. But, for the other chains, 
bracelets and rings, they passed under the bequest of 
jewels. 

Persons who desire to leave specific rings to friends 
should designate them ; for, otherwise, the particular ar- 
ticle will not pass. Thus, " I give a diamond ring," is 
what is called a general legacy, which may be fulfilled 
by the delivery of any ring of that kind ; while " I give 

* Goclolphin's Orphan's Leg., 413. 



OF FIN G EE-EIN GS. 51 

tlie diamond ring presented to me by A," is a specific 
legacy, which can only be satisfied by the delivery of 
the specified subject.* A legacy of £50 for a ring is but 
a money legacy ; it fastens upon no specific ring, and 
carries interest like other money bequests, f 

A family ring may become an important piece of evi- 
dence in the establishment of a pedigree ; and the law 
admits it for that purpose : upon the presumption, as 
Lord Erskine has it, "that a person would not wear a 
ring with an error upon it.":): 

In ancient times dying persons gave their rings to some 
one, declaring thereby who was their heir.§ 

§ 16. "We do not find in any work on orders of knight- 
hood, any association having direct reference to a ring ; 
but in a volume of the Imperial Magazine there is a 
reference to the Order of the Ring, said to have been 
copied from a beautifully illuminated MS., on vellum. ^[ 
The sovereign of the order was to wear upon the fifth 
finger a blue enamelled ring, set round with diamonds, 
with the motto, Sans changer. The matter looks ficti- 
tious, for it embraces the seeming signatures of Leonora, 
Belvidera, Torrismond and Csesario. 

Lorenzo the Magnificent, of the Medici family, bore a 
diamond ring with three feathers and the motto, Semper • 
and when the Medici returned to Florence, Giuliano do 
Medici instituted an order of merit, denominated the 
Order of the Diamond, alluding to the impresa, an em- 
blem of his father. This was done to secure influence 



* Williams on Executors, 739. t Apreece v. Apreece, 1 V. and B. 364. 

X Vowles v. Young, 13 Ves. J. 144. § Montfuucon. 
\ London, for 1760, p. 243. 



52 H I S T O E Y AND POETEY 

by recalling the memory of the parent. The members 
of it had precedence on public occasions, and it was 
their province to preside over festivals, triumphs and 
exhibitions.* 

§ IT. Rings have been found in strange places, and 
under interesting circumstances. We find them upon 
and below the earth ; within the Pyramids ; beneath the 
ashes of Pompeii and Ilerculaneum ; and strewed over 
battle-fields. f They have been discovered on the field 
of Cressy. 

§ 18. In Persia, at the present day, letters are seldom 
written and never signed by the person who sends them ; 
and it will thus appear that the authenticity of all orders 
and communications, and even of a merchant's bills, de- 
pends wholly on an impression from his seal-ring4 This 
makes the occupation of a seal-cutter one of as much 
trust and danger as it seems to have been in Egypt. 
Such a person is obliged to keep a register of every 
ring-seal he makes ; and if one be lost or stolen from the 
party for whom it was cut, his life would answer for 
making another exactly like it. The loss of a signet-ring 
is considered a serious calamity ; and the alarm which 
an Oriental exhibits when his signet is missing, can only 
be understood by a reference to these circumstances, as 
the seal-cutter is always obliged to alter the real date at 
which the seal was cut. The only resource of a person 
who has lost his seal is to have another made with a 



* Eoscoe's Leo X., i. 338, (8vo.) 

t Library of Entertaining Knowledge, Poinpeii, vol. ii. p. 324. 

% And see Layard's Ninovelx and Babylon, (Putnam's Edit.,) 529. 



OF FINGEE-EIN6S. 53 

new date, and to write to his correspondents to Inform 
them that all accounts, contracts and communications to 
which his former signet is affixed are null from the day 
on which it was lost. 

Importance has been given to signets in England. 
This was at a time when the schoolmaster had not made 
many penmen. "And how great a regard was had to 
seals," says Collins, in his Baronage, " appears from 
these testimonies ; the Charter of King Henry I. to the 
Abbey of Evesham, being exhibited to King Henry III. 
and the seal being cloven in sunder, the King forthwith 
caused it to be confirmed," etc., etc. ; " and in 13 Ed. 
III., when, by misfortune, a deed, then showed in the 
Chancery, was severed from the seal, in the presence of 
the Lord Chancellor and other noble persons, command 
was not only given for the affixing it again thereto, but 
an exemplification was made thereof under the Great 
Seal of England, with the recital of the premises. And 
the counterfeiting of another man's seal was anciently 
punished with transportation, as appears from this record 
in the reign of King John," etc., etc. "It is also as re- 
markable that in 9 H. III. c. c. marks damages were 
recovered by Sir Ralph de Crophall, Knight, against 
Henry de Grenclon and William de Grendon for forcibly 
breaking a seal from a deed. Also so tender was every 
man in those times of his seal, that if he had accidentally 
lost it, care was taken to publish the same, lest another 
might make use of it to his detriment, as is manifested 
in the case of Benedict de Hogham " etc. "Also not 
much unlike to this is that of Henry cle Perpount, a per- 
son of great quality, (ancestor of his Grace the Duke 
of Kingston,) who, on Monday, in the Octaves of St. 



54: HISTORY AND POETRY 

Michael, 8 Eel. L, came into the Chancery at Lincoln 
and publicly declared, that he missed his. seal; and pro- 
tested, that if any instrument should be signed with that 
seal, for the time to come, it should be of no value or 
effect. !Nor is that publication made by John de Grese- 
ley of Drakelow, in Com. Derb. 18 R. II., upon the 
loss of his seal, less considerable," etc., etc.* 

§ 19. We are aware of the value of many modern 
rings, arising from their being used as mere frames for 
jewels. And ancient ones, from the same fact or from 
having exquisite engraving upon them, were also highly, 
prized. ]^onius,f a senator, is said to have been pro- 
scribed by Anthony for the sake of a gem in a ring, worth 
twenty thousand sesterces. 

The "Roving Englishman"^: informs us, that the Pasha 
wears on his right-hand little finger, a diamond ring 
which once belonged to the Dey of Algiers, and cost a 
thousand pounds sterling. 

§ 20. An English work, of but little note, professes to 
make out " Love's Telegraph," as understood in America, 
thus : — If a gentleman wants a wife, he wears a ring on 
the first finger of the left hand ; if he is engaged, he wears 
it on the second finger; if married, on the third/ and 
on the fourth if he never intends to be married. When 
a lady is not engaged, she wears a hoop or diamond on her 
first finger ; if engaged, on the second ; if married, on the 
third / and on the fourth if she intends to die a maid.§ 

* Vol. i. p. 345, 4to. 

t Adam's Roman Antiquities, 3G8, (Boyd's edit.) 

\ Household Words, ix. 462. § Family Friend, vol. ii. p. 132. 



OF FIXGEE-EINGS. 55 

Many of our readers are aware that there are name- 
rings, in which the first letter attaching to each jewel 
employed will make a loved one's name or a sentiment. 
In the formation of English rings of this kind, the terms 
Regard and Dearest are common. Thus illustrated : — ■ 
H{uby) YJ^mercdd) G(arnet) A.{methyst) H(uby) Diamond). 
—r~D{ictmond) ~E{meredd) A{methyst) ~R(uby) 'E{mercdd) 
8{apj?hire) T(ppaz). It is believed that this pretty notion 
originated (as many pretty notions do) with the French. 
The words which the latter generally play with, in a 
combination of gems, are /Souvenir and Amitie, thus : 
S(aphir or^ardoine) 0{nix or (2pale) TJ(raine) Y{er7neille) 
~JL{meraitde) ~N{atralithe) I{ris) ~H{iibis or 7?ose diamant). 
■ — A(methiste or .JJgue-marine) M{cdachite) Oris) T(ur- 
quoise or Tbpaze) I{ris) Wmeraude). 

Here are the alphabetical French names of precious 
stones :* 

A. Amethiste. Aigue-marine. 

B. Brilliant. Diamant, designiant la meme pierre. 

C. Chrisolithe. Carnaline. Chrisophrase. 

D. Diamant. 

E. Emeraude. 

F. {Pas depierre connue.) 
G-. Grenat. 

H. Hiacinthe. 

I. Iris. 

J. Jasper. 

K. {Pecs de pierre connue.) 

L. Lapis lazuli. 

M. Malachite. 

* Furnished to the author through the attention of Messrs. Marchand A6. 
Gaime, Guillemot & Co., Jewellers, of New-York. 



56 HISTORY AND P0ETKY 

~N. Hatralitlie. 

O. Onix. Opale. 

P. Perle. Peridot. Purpurine. 

Q. (Pas de pier re connue.) 

P. Pubis. Pose diamant. 

S. Sapliir. Sardoine. 

T. Turquoise. Topaze. 

P. Uraine. 

Y. Yermeille (espece de grenat Jaime). 

X. Xepherine. 

Y. Z. (Pas de nous connus.) 

Ivobell says,* "In name-rings, in which a name is 
indicated by the initial letter of different gems, the eme- 
rald is mostly used under its English and French name 
(Emeraude) to stand for e, which would otherwise not be 
represented. (The German name is Smaixigd.) While on 
this point, it may be mentioned that a difficulty occurs 
with u, but recent times have furnished a name which 
may assist, namely, a green garnet, containing chrome, 
from Siberia, which has been baptized after the Russian 
Minister ITwarrow, and called TJwarroviteP 

The Poles have a fanciful belief that each month of 
the year is under the influence of a precious stone, which 
influence has a corresponding effect on the destiny of a 
person born during the respective month. Consequently 
it is customary among friends and lovers, on birth-days, 
to make reciprocal presents of trinkets ornamented with 
the natal stones. The stones and their influences, cor- 
responding with each month, are supposed to be as 
follows : 

January — Garnet. Constancy and Fidelity. 

* Mineral Kingdom, p. 269. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 57 

February — Amethyst. Sincerity. 

March — Bloodstone. Courage, presence of mind. 

April — Diamond. Innocence. 

May — Emerald. Success in love. 

June — Agate. Health and long life. 

July — Cornelian. Contented mind. 

August — Sardonyx. Conjugal felicity. 

September — Chrysolite. Antidote against madness. 

October — Opal. Hope. 

November — Topaz. Fidelity. - 

December — Turquoise. Prosperity. 

Modern jewellers are known to palm off imitations of 
gems ; and so did sellers of trinkets in ancient times. 
The moderns only run the chance of a loss of custom ; 
but the latter were well off if they got no greater fright 
than the jeweller who sold to the wife of Gallienus a 
ring with a piece of glass in it. Gallienus ordered the 
cheat to be placed in the circus, as though he were to be 
exposed to the ferocity of a lion. While the miserable 
jeweller trembled at the expectation of instant death, 
the executioner, by order of the emperor, let loose a 
capon upon him. An uncommon laugh was raised at 
this; and the emperor observed that he who had de- 
ceived others should expect to be deceived himself. 

A ring often figures in the old English ballads. Thus, 
in Child JVbryce, the hero of it invites Lady Barnard to 
the merry greenwood : 

" Here is a ring, a ring, lie says, 
It's all gold but the stane ; 
You may tell her to come to the merry greenwood, 
And ask the leave o' nane." 



58 HISTORY AND POETRY 

§ 21. A ring, as an heraldic figure, is found in coats 
of arms throughout every kingdom in Europe. In He- 
raldry, it is called an annulet. We find the ring "gem- 
med " borne in the arms of the Montgomeries, who hold 
the Earldom of Eglinton ; and one of whom figures in the 
ballad of Chevy Chase : 

" Against Sir Hugh Montgomerie 
So right his shaft he set, 
The gray-goose-wing that was therein 
In his heart blood was wet," 

A father and son of this family were opposed to each 
other in the battle of Marston Moor. The father, from 
his bearing, had the popular appellation of Gray Steel. 
We find the amulet borne in the coats of arms of several 
of the peers and gentlemen of England. 

Louis IX. of Erance, St. Louis, took for his device a 
marguerite or daisy and fleur-de-lis, in allusion to the 
name of Queen Marguerite his wife and the arms of 
France, which were also his own.* He had a ring made 
with a relief around it in enamel, which represented a 
garland of marguerites and fleurs-de-lis. One was 
engraven on a sapphire with these words, "This ring 
contains all %ve love." Thus, it has been said, did this 
excellent prince show his people that he loved nothing 
but Religion, France and his wife. It is a question, how- 
ever, whether the emblem on the escutcheon of the kings 
of France is really a fleur-de-lis. Some think it was ori- 
ginally a toad, which formed the crest of the helmet worn 
by Pharamond ; and others, the golden bees which were 

* New- York Albion newspaper, 8th October, 1S53. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 59 

discovered in the tomb of Child eric at Tournay in 1653.* 
The story is that Clovis, after baptism, received a fleur- 
de-lis from an angel. Since then France has been called 
" the empire of lilies." The coat of arms of Clovis and 
his successors was a field of azure, seeded with golden 
fleurs-de-lis. 

The story of losing rings and finding them in fish, is 
as old as Pliny, and we shall have to mention Solomon's 
ring, which, it is said, was found in one. We have an 
English statementf of a Mrs. Todd, of Deptford, who, in 
going in a boat to W hit-stable, endeavored to prove that 
no person need be poor who was willing to be otherwise ; 
and, being excited with her argument, she took off her 
gold ring and throwing it into the sea, said, " It was as 
much impossible for any person to be poor, who had an 
inclination to be otherwise, as for her ever to see that 
ring again." The second day after this, and when she 
had landed, she bought some mackerel, which the servant 
commenced to dress for dinner, whereupon there was 
found a gold ring in one. The servant ran to show it to 
her mistress, and the ring proved to be that which she 
had thrown away. 

We are told in Brand's " History of Newcastle," that 
a gentleman of that city, in the middle of the seventeenth 

* When the tomb of Childeric, father of Clovis, was opened, there were 
found, besides the skeletons of his horse and page, his arms, a crystal orb and 
more than three hundred little ornaments resembling bees of the purest gold, 
their wing part being inlaid with a red stone like cornelian. It has, however, 
been asserted that they were what are called fleurons, supposed to have been 
attached to the harness of the monarch's war-horse. Napoleon, wishing to 
have some regal emblem more ancient than t\\e fleur-de-lis, adopted the fleu- 
rons or bees, and the green ground as the original Merovingian color. 
(Notes and Queries, viii. 30.) 

t London Gent's Mag. for January, 1765, p. 210. 



60 HISTORY AND POETKT 

century, dropped a ring from his hand over the bridge 
into the river Tyne. Years passed on ; he had lost all 
hopes of recovering the ring, when one day his wife 
bought a fish in the market, and in the stomach of that 
fish was the identical jewel which had been lost ! From 
the pains taken to commemorate this event, it would 
appear to be true ; it was merely an occurrence possible, 
but extremely unlikely to have occurred. 

We are inclined to add in this section a circumstance 
connected with a ring as it appeared in a respectable 
English periodical. Fact, here, beats fiction : 

"Many years ago a lady sent her servant, a young 
man about twenty years of age, and a native of that part 
of the country where his mistress resided, to the neigh- 
boring town with a ring, which required some alteration, 
to be delivered into the hands of a jeweller. The young 
man went the shortest way across the fields ; and coming 
to a little wooden bridge that crossed a small stream, he 
leant against the rail, and took the ring out of its case to 
look at it. While doing so, it slipped out of his hand, 
and fell into the water. In vain he searched for it, even 
till it grew dark. He thought it fell into the hollow 
of a stump of a tree under water, but he could not find 
it. The time taken in the search was so long, that he 
feared to return and tell his story, thinking it incredi- 
ble, and that he should be even suspected of having gone 
into evil company and gamed it away or sold it. In 
this fear he determined never to return — left wages and. 
clothes, and fairly ran away. This seemingly great mis- 
fortune was the making of him. His intermediate his- 
tory I know not ; but this, that after many years' absence, 
either in the East or West Indies, he returned with a 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 61 

very considerable fortune. He now wished to clear 
himself with his old mistress ; ascertained that she was 
living ; purchased a diamond ring of considerable value, 
which he determined to present in person, and clear his 
character, by telling his tale, to which the credit of his 
present position might testify. He took the coach to the 
town of ■ , and from thence set out to walk the dis- 
tance of a few miles. He found, I should tell you, on 
alighting, a gentleman who resided in the neighborhood, 
who was bound for the adjacent village. They walked 
together, and in conversation, this former servant, now a 
gentleman, with graceful manners and agreeable address, 
communicated the circumstance that made him leave 
the country abruptly many years before. As he was 
telling this, they came to the very wooden bridge. 
4 There,' said he; 'it was just here that I dropped the 
ring ; and there is the very bit of old tree into a hole of 
which it fell — just there.' At the same time he put 
down the point of his umbrella into the hole of the knot 
in the tree, and drawing it up, to the astonishment of 
both, found the very ring on the ferrule of the umbrella." 

Here also was an occurrence against which one would 
have previously said the chances were as one to infinity. 
It was a circumstance which we see to be most unlikely, 
yet must acknowledge to be possible, and, when well 
authenticated, to be true. 

In the year 1765, a codfish was sold, and in its sto- 
mach was a gold ring. It had remained there so long 
that the inscription was worn off, although the scrolls in 
which it had been written remained entire."" Codfish, 
like sharks, swallow any thing, whether fresh or salted, 

* Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xxxv. old series, p. 141. 



62 HISTORY AND POETRY 

bits of wood, red cloth, and even a whole book has been 
found in one. We are not aware, however, that a cod 
has turned " State's evidence," as it is said a shark did. 
A shark had swallowed a log-book, thrown overboard to 
him by a pirate ; and afterwards repenting, took the first 
hook that offered, and thus turned State's evidence — so 
as to hang the villain by the revelation of the docu- 
ment.* 

§ 23. Poetical riddles are but a low species of verse, 
and yet the best of poets have made them. We find a 
neat one on a ring, which, in riddle-phrase, has been 
said to " unite two people together and touch only one." 
It runs thus : 

" Though small of body, it contains 
The extremes of pleasure and of pains ; 
Has no beginning, nor no end ; 
More hollow than the falsest friend. 
If it entraps some headless zany, 
Or, in its magic circle, any 
Have entered, from its sorcery 
No power on earth can set them free. 
At least, all human force is vain, 
Or less than many hundred men. 
Though endless, yet not short, nor long ; 
And what though it's so wondrous strong, 
The veriest child, that's pleased to try, 
Might carry fifty such as I." 

George Herbert — " Holy Mr. Herbert," as Isaac Wal- 
ton calls him — has an enigma in which a ring appears. 
We must confess our inability to solve it, and leave 
readers to do so. It is entitled — 

* Article in the N. Y. Albion for 31st Dec. 1853, on Cod and Cod Fishing, 
627. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 63 



" I gave to Hope a watch of mine ; but he 

An anchor gave to me. 
Then an old prayer-book I did present, 

And he an optic sent. 
With that, I gave a phial full of tears ; 

But he a few green ears. 
Ah, loiterer ! I'll no more, no more I'll bring : 

I did expect a ring." 

§ 2L Rings are sometimes misapplied. In the church 
of Loretto is the house in which some Catholics say the 
Virgin mother of Jesus was born, it having occupied a 
lane in Nazareth where Christ resided, and which, after 
a long flight of years, was transported by angels to 
Loretto. It must, as it stood in Nazareth, have resem- 
bled a mud cabin. Within it is a miraculous statue of 
the Virgin and child, in cedar wood. " The Bambino," 
says an authoress, "holds up his hand, as if to sport 
a superb diamond ring on his finger, presented to him 
by Cardinal Antonelli ; it is a single diamond, and 
weighs thirty grains."* 

§ 25. The scenes through which many rings are car- 
ried must be as remarkable as those exhibited in "The 
Adventures of a Guinea," or " of a Feather." " My 
Lady Rochford," writes Horace Walpole, " desired me 
t'other day to give her a motto for a ruby ring, which 
had been given by a handsome woman of quality to a 
fine man ; he gave it to his mistress, she to Lord ***** ? 
he to my Lady ; who, I think, does not deny that it has 
not yet finished its travels. I excused myself for some 

* Lady Morgan's Italy, vol. ii. p. 419. 



64 FINGER- RINGS. 

time, on the difficulty of reducing such a history to a 
poesy — at last I proposed this : 

' This was given by woman to man and by man to woman.' "* 
* Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 107, 



It may be well for the author to so far take the part of 
a jeweller, as to sort his Rings before he exhibits them. 
We propose to speak of: 

1. — Rings connected with power. 

2. — Rings having supposed charms and virtues, or con- 
nected with degradation and slavery, or used for sad 
and wicked purposes. 

3. — Rings coupled with remarkable historical characters 
or circumstances. 

4. — Rings of love, affection and friendship. 



CHAPTER TWO. 



RINGS CONNECTED WITH POWER. 



1. The King an Emblem of Power ; Pharaoh; Quintus Curtius; Antiochus 
Epiphanes , Augustus ; King of Persia , Egypt under the Ptolemies ; "Ro- 
man Senators ; the Forefinger. 2. Ring's used in Coronations ; Edward the 
Second , Mother of Henry VIII. ; Queen Elizabeth ; Charles II. ; Coro- 
nation Rings, Canute; Sebert; Henry II.; Childeric; Matilda, wife of 
William the Conqueror. 3. King withdrawing a Proceeding from the 
Council by the use of a Ring. 4. The Doge of Venice marrying the Adriatic. 
5. The Ring of Office of the Doge. 6. Tie Fisherman's Ring. 7, Papal 
Ring of Pius II. 8. Investiture of Archbishops and Bishops, by delivery 
of a Ring ; Cardinal's Ring ; Extension of the two Forefingers and Thumb. 
9. Serjeant's Ring. 10. Arabian Princesses. 11. Roman Knights. 12. Al- 
derman's Thumb Rino:. 



§ 1, From the most ancient times, a riiiff has been an 
emblem of power. 

Pharaoh put his ring upon Joseph's hand, as a mark 
of the power he gave him ; and the people cried, " Bow 
the knee."* 

Quintus Curtius tells us that Alexander the Great 
sealed the letters he wrote into Europe with his own 
ring seal, and those in Asia with Darius's ring ; and that 
when Alexander gave his ring to Perdiccas, it was un- 
derstood as nominating him his successor. 

When Antiochus Epiphanes was at the point of death, 
he committed to Philip, one of his friends, his diadems, 
royal cloak and ring, that he might give them to his 
successor, young Antiochus. f 

* Genesis, chap. lxi. et seq. t 1 Mac. vi. 15. 



GQ HISTORY AND POETRY 

Augustus, being very ill of a distemper which he 
thought mortal, gave his ring to Agrippa, as to a friend 
of the greatest integrity. 

The ring given by Pharaoh to Joseph, was, undoubt- 
edly, a signet or seal-ring, and gave authority to the 
documents to which it was affixed ; and by the delivery 
of it, therefore, Pharaoh delegated to Joseph the chief 
authority in the state. * The king of Persia, in the 
same way, gave his seal-ring to his successive ministers, 
Haman and Mordecai ; and in the book of Esther,f the 
use of such a ring is expressly declared : " The writing 
which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the 
king's seal, may no man reverse." 

That ministers or lords under the king had their rings 
of office, is also apparent from what occurred with the 
closing of the den of lions : "And a stone was brought 
and laid upon the mouth of the den ; and the king sealed 
it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords ; 
that the purpose might not be changed concerning 
Daniel.''^ 

In Egypt, under the Ptolemies, the king's ring w T as the 
badge under which the country was governed. It seem- 
ed to answer to the great seal of England. §j We read 
that Sosibius, minister under Ptolemy Philopater, was 
forced, by popular clamor, to give up the king's signet 
ring to another. Here was a going out of a Lord John 
Russell, and a coming in of a Lord Palmerston. 

At first, Roman Senators were not allowed to wear 
gold rings, unless they had been ambassadors ; but, at 
length, the Senators and Knights were allowed the use 

* Encyc. Brit., Article Ring. \ Chap. viii. S. 

% Daniel vi. 17. § Egypt under the Ptolemies, by Sharp, 118. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 67 

of them ; although Acron in Horace observes they could 
not do it unless it were given them by the Praetor.* The 
people wore silver rings. 

Inhabitants of the eastern world do not sign their 
names. They have ring-seals, in which name and title 
are engraven, and they make an impression with thick 
ink where we make our signature. To give a person, then, 
your seal-ring, is to give him the use of an authority and 
power which your own signature possesses. This explains 
the extraordinary anxiety about seals, as exhibited in the 
laws and usages of the East, and to which we have refer- 
red in a former chapter. It also illustrates Judah's anxi- 
ety about the signet which he had pledged to Tamar. 

In ancient times, the forefinger was emblematical of 
power. Among the Hebrews, " the finger of God " 
denoted his power ; and it was the forefinger among the 
gods of Greece and Italy which wore the ring, the em- 
blem of supremacy.! 

§ 2. Pings are used in coronations. The English 
public records, as now extant in the Tower of London, 
contain no mention of any coronation proceedings before 
the reign of Edward the Second. The accounts of the 
forms observed with reference to that king being crown- 
ed, as also of Pichard the Second, are the two most 
ancient from which the minutes of those matters can 
be collected on official authority 4 However, there is 

* Lib. ii. Sat. 7. t Notes and Queries, iv. 261. 

% An Historical and Critical Enquiry into the nature of the Kingly Offices, 
etc., by T. C. Banks, p. 7. See also a complete account of the Ceremonies 
observed in the Coronation of the Kings and Queens of England, 4th edition, 
published by J. Eoberts. Also, the entire Ceremonies of the Coronation of 
King Charles II., and of Queen Mary, consort of James II., as published by 
the Learned Heralds, Ashmole and Sandford. 



68 HISTORY AND POETRY 

enough of Saxon times left to show that the Anglo-Saxon 
kings used a ring in their coronation ceremonies.* 

In a curious old manuscript relating to the Ancient 
Form of the Coronation of the Kings and Queens of Eng- 
land, we have this : " After the king is thus arrayed, 
then let the crown be placed upon the king's head by 
the Archbishop, and afterwards let a ring be put upon 
the king's hand by the Bishop." 

In Leland's Collectanea is a circumstantial account of 
the coronation of the mother of Henry the Eighth. In 
describing the ceremonies made use of by the Archbi- 
shop : " He next blest her ring and sprinkled on it holy 
water." 

In the ceremony of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, she 
was wedded to the kingdom with a ring, which she 
always wore, till the flesh growing over it, it was filed 
off a little before her decease.f 

On the restoration of Charles the Second of England, 
measures were adopted to repair, as much as possible, 
the loss of the ancient regalia of the crown taken from 
their depository, the Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster, 
and broken up and sold by the Parliamentarians.^: The 
new regalia was constructed by Sir Robert Yyner, the 
king's goldsmith. The cost of it was £21,978 9s. lid. 

In an account of the coronation of Charles II. of Eng- 
land,! we have the following, which comes after a de- 
scription of the robing and crowning : u Then the master 
of the jewel house delivered to the Archbishop the ring, 

* Arcliseologia, (London,) iii. 390. f Biographia Britanniea, Art. Devereux. 

% Arelmeologia, vol. xxvi. (London.) Account of the Jerusalem Chamber, 
by A. J. Kempe, Esquire. 

§ lb. vol. xxix. pi. 2. Particulars cf the Regalia of England, made for the 
Coronation of Charles II., by Robert Cole, Esquire. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 09 

who consecrated it after this manner, saying : Bless, O 
Lord, and sanctify this ring, that thy servant, wearing 
it, may be sealed with the ring of faith and, by the power 
of the Highest, be preserved from sin ; and let all the 
blessings, which are found in Holy Scripture, plentifully 
descend upon him, that whatsoever he shall sanctify may 
be holy ; and whomsoever he blesseth may be blessed. 
Amen.' After which he put it upon the fourth finger 
of the king's right hand, and said : 'Receive this ring of 
kingly dignity, and by it the seal of Catholic Faith, that 
as this day thou art adorned the head and prince of this 
kingdom and people, so thou mayest persevere as the 
author and establisher of Christianity and the Christian 
faith ; that being rich in faith and happy in works, thou 
mayest reign with Him that is King of kings ; to whom 
be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.' ' Think 
of this imposing ceremony ; and then remember the after 
life and the death of that royal libertine. Better for his 
country had he never known a British oak for safety. 
The living tree was dishonored when its foliage shaded 
him. What can be said in favor of one who squandered 
on his mistresses seventy thousand pounds sterling, 
which had been voted by Parliament for a monument to 
his father ? And also to think of the joking excuse, that 
his father's grave was unknown ! 

In an explanation of what are called the sacred and 
royal habits and other ornaments wherewith monarchs 
of England are invested on the day of coronation, we 
have a description of the king's and queen's coronation 
rings. The king's is a plain gold ring, with a large table 
ruby violet, wherein a plain cross or cross of St. George 
is curiously enchased. The queen's coronation ring is 



70 HISTORY AND POETRY 

likewise gold, with a lar^e table rubv set therein and 
sixteen other small rubies round about the ring, whereof, 
those next to the collet are the largest, the rest diminish- 
ing proportionally. 

In the account of Ancient Regalia which were de- 
stroyed and dissipated in the time of the Commonwealth 
in England, there is no mention of a ring. 

In the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six, 
some workmen discovered a monument while repairing 
Winchester Cathedral, in England." It contained the 
body of King Canute, and was remarkably fresh. There 
was a wreath around the head, several ornaments of gold 
and also silver bands ; upon a finger was a ring, in which 
was set a large and remarkably fine stone ; while in one 
of the hands was a silver penny. This silver penny was 
not for " the ferryman that poets write of," as was the 
piece of money in the mouths of the Roman knights 
whose passing-away bodies we have before referred to ; 
but, although it may have been for Peter and not Charon, 
is it not probable that we find here a custom of Christian 
times springing out of heathen root ? A statue of Jupi- 
ter has been turned into a Christ ; and that which the 
Roman used for the boatman of Styx, is here meant for 
one who had the key of heaven. 

"While Henry the Second, of England, was rebuilding 
Westminster Abbey, the sepulchre of Sebert, king of the 
East Angles, w T as opened.f The body was dressed in 
royal robes, and there was a thumb-ring, in which w T as 
set a ruby of great value. 

Horace Walpole, having reference to the opening of 
this monarch's tomb, complains, like an antiquary, of 

* Archceologia, iii. 390. t lb. 385. 



OF FINGER-KINGS. 71 

the reburying the king's regalia. " They might, at least, 
have cut out the portraits and removed the tomb [of King 
Sebert] to a conspicuous situation ; but though this age 
is grown so antiquarian, it has not gained a grain more 
of sense in that walk — witness, as you instance, in Mr. 
Grose's Legends, and in the dean and chapter reburying 
the crown, robes and sceptre of Edward I. There would 
surely have been as much piety in preserving them in 
their treasury, as in consigning them again to decay. I 
did not know that the salvation of robes and crowns de- 
pended on receiving Christian burial. At the same time, 
the chapter transgresses that prince's will, like all their 
antecessors, for he ordered his tomb to be opened every 
year or two years, and receive a new T cere-cloth or pall ; 
but they boast now of having inclosed him so substan- 
tially that his ashes cannot be violated again."- 

When the tomb of Henry the Second, of England, was 
opened, it appeared that he was buried wearing a crown 
and royal robes, with other paraphernalia, while there 
was a great ring upon his finger, f 

Richard the Second, of England, by his will directed 
that he should be buried in velvet or white satin, etc., 
and that, according to royal usage, a ring, with a precious 
stone in it, should be put upon his finger. 

The body of Childeric, the first king of the Franks,^ 
was discovered at Tours. It was found in royal robes, 
and, with other regalia, a coronation ring. 

In the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-two, 
the Calvinists broke open the tomb of Matilda, wife to 
William the Conqueror, in the Abbey of Caen ; and 
discovered her body dressed in robes of state and a gold 

* Correspondence, vol. vi. p. 67. t Arclueologia, iii. 392. % lb. 389. 



72 HISTORY AND POETEY 

ring, set with a sapphire, upon one of her fingers. The 
ring was given to the then abbess, who presented it to 
her father, the Baron cle Conti, constable of France, when 
he attended Charles IX. to Caen in 1563. 

§ 3. In the time of Henry YIII. of England, the king's 
ring was used to withdraw from the Council the power 
to adjudge a matter and to place it entirely in the hands 
of the monarch. We refer to the complaints against 
Cranmer, which are made use of by Shakspeare," who 
has very closely followed Fox, in his Book of Martyrs.f 
The king sends for Cranmer, and follows up his discourse 
thus : "Do you not consider what an easy thing it is to 
procure three or four false knaves to witness against you % 
Think you to have better luck that way than your master 
Christ had ? I see by it you will run headlong to your 
undoing, if I would suffer you. Your enemies shall not 
so prevail against you, for I have otherwise devised with 
myself to keep you out of their hands. Yet, notwith- 
standing, to-morrow when the council shall sit and send 
for you, resort unto them, and if, in charging you with 
this matter, they do commit you to the Tower, require 
of them, because you are one of them, a counsellor, that 
you may have your accusers brought before them with- 
out any further indurance, and use for yourself as good 
persuasions that way as you may devise ; and if no en- 
treaty or reasonable request will serve, then deliver unto 
them this my ring, (which, then, the king delivered unto 
the Archbishop,) and say unto them, ' If there be no re- 
medy, my lords, but that I must needs go to the Tower, 
then I revoke my cause from you and appeal to the king's 

* King Henry VIII., Act 5, Scenes 1, 2. 

t Sec also Antiquitat. Britannica}, 334, 336 ; Burnet, 327, ct scq. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 73 

own person by this token unto you all ;' for, (said the 
king then unto the Archbishop,) 'so soon as they shall see 
this my ring, they know it so well that they shall under- 
stand that I have reserved the whole cause into mine own 
hands and determination, and that I have discharged 
them thereof.' Anon the Archbishop was called into 
the council chamber, to whom was alleged as before is 
rehearsed. The Archbishop answered in like sort as the 
king had advised him ; and in the end, when he perceived 
that no manner of persuasion or entreaty could serve, 
he delivered them the king's ring, revoking his cause 
into the king's hands. The whole council being thereat 
somewhat amazed, the Earl of Bedford, with a loud voice, 
confirming his words with a solemn oath, said, i When 
you first began the matter, my lords, I told you what 
would become of it. Do you think that the king would 
suffer this man's finger to ache ? Much more (I warrant 
you) will he defend his life against brabbling varlets. 
You do but cumber yourselves to hear tales and fables 
against him.' And incontinently upon the receipt of the 
king's token, they all rose and carried to the king his 
ring, surrendering that matter, as the order and use was, 
into his own hands." 

§ 4. The stranger in Venice is yet shown the richly 
gilt galley, called Bucentaur, in which the Doge, from 
the year 1311, was accustomed to go out into the sea 
annually on Ascension Day, to throw a ring into the 
water, and thus to marry, as it were, the Adriatic, as a 
sign of the power of Yenice over that sea.* This cere- 
mony does not go into remote antiquity, yet the origin 

* Encyc. Am., Art. Venice. And seo Scott's Discovery of Witohcraft 
(1665,) p. 152. 



74: HISTORY AND POETRY 

of it is of considerable date. In the year 1177, when the 
Emperor Barbarossa went to humble himself before the 
Pope, who had taken refuge in Yenice, the Pope, in tes- 
timony of the kindness he had there received, gave to the 
Doge a ring, and with it a right for the Venetians to call 
the Adriatic sea their own. He bade the Doge cast it 
into the sea, to wed it, as a man marries his wife ; and 
he enjoined the citizens, by renewing this ceremony 
every year, to claim a dominion which they had won by 
their valor ; for they had, with a small squadron, defeat- 
ed a large fleet of the Emperors and taken his son pri- 
soner ; and it was to regain his son that the Emperor 
submitted himself to the Pope. 

The ceremony took place on Ascension Day. The 
Doge, the senators, foreign ambassadors and great num- 
bers of the nobility, in their black robes, walked to the 
sea-side, where the magnificent vessel, the Bucentoro, 
was waiting to receive them. They then proceeded 
about two miles up the Laguna, and when arrived at a 
certain place, they all stopped. The Doge then rose 
from his chair of state, went to the side of the vessel and 
threw a gold ring into the sea, repeating the following 
words : " We espouse thee, O sea ! as a token of our 
perpetual dominion over thee." At the close of this part 
of the ceremony, all the galleys fired their guns ; and 
the music continued to play. On their voyage back, 
they stopped at a small island, where they went to church, 
and hiffh mass was there celebrated. They then returned 
in the same order they at first set out." 

* In the Gentleman's Magazine for March, 1798,.p. 184, is a minute account 
of tliis ceremony, which somewhat varies from the above: "On Ascension 
Day, the Doge, in a splendid barge, attended by a thousand barks and gon- 



OF FINGEK-EINGS. To 

This cry of perpetual dominion over the sea, puts us 
in mind of the story of Canute ; and knowing the present 
prostrate and decaying condition of Venice, truly may 
we say : " How are the mighty fallen." One of our 
frigates would make the whole maritime power of Venice 
tremble like the ring as . it went through the waters. 
This ceremony was intermitted in the year one thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-seven.* 

§ 5. The Doge of Venice had a ring of office, We 
find it figuring in the acts through which the Doge 
Foscari had to move. A noble creature was this Foscari. 
No Brutus ever behaved with the awful dignity which 
was apparent in Foscari at the period of his son's torture 
in his presence. f 

When the Council of Ten demanded of him 

" The resignation of the Ducal ring, 
Which he had worn so long and venerably," 

he laid aside the Ducal bonnet and robes ; surrendered 
his ring of office, and cried out : 

" There's the Ducal ring, 
And there the Ducal diadem. And so, 
The Adriatic 's free to wed another." 

dolas, proceeds to a particular place in the Adriatic. In order to compose 
the angry gulf and procure a calm, the patriarch pours into her bosom a 
quantity of holy water. As soon as this charm has had its effect, the Doge, 
with great solemnity, through an aperture near his seat, drops into her lap a 
gold ring, repeating these words, ' Desponsamus te. Mare, in signum veriper- 
petuique dominii? ' We espouse thee, O sea ! in token of real and perpetual 
dominion over thee.' " 

* Dictionary of Dates, Adriatic. 

t See Smedley's Sketches of Venetian History, referred to in note [A] to 
Byron's Works. 



70 HISTOEY AND POETEY 

The ring was broken in his presence, and as nobly as 
the old Doge had borne himself, whether when strangers 
were before him, or when his son was tortured in his 
presence, (as an awful punishment for the yearning of a 
young heart for childhood's home,) so did this great 
Venetian still act. lie refused to leave the Ducal 
palace by a private way. He would descend, he said, 
by no other than the same giant stairs which he had 
mounted thirty years before. Supported by his brother, 
he slowly traversed them. At their foot, leaning upon 
his staff, for years of age were upon him, he turned 
towards the palace, and accompanied a last look with 
these parting words : " My services established me with- 
in your walls ; it is the malice of my enemies which 
tears me from them." The bells of the Campanile told 
of his successor. He suppressed all outward emotion, but 
a blood-vessel was ruptured in the exertion and he died 
in a few hours. 

§ 6. A Pope wears a ring of gold with a costly eme- 
rald or other precious gem set in it. 

The decrees of the Romish Court consist of bulls and 
briefs. The .latter are issued on less important occasions 
than the former. Briefs are written upon fine white 
parchment, with Latin letters ; and the seal is what is 
called " The Fisherman's Ring." It is a steel seal, made 
in the fashion of a Roman signet, (signatorius annul us.) 
When a brief is written to any distinguished personage, 
or has relation to religious or general important matter, 
the impression from the Fisherman's Ring is said to be 
made upon a gold surface ; in some other cases it appears 
upon lead ; and these seals are generally attached by 



OF FINGEE-EINGS 



i t 




strings of silk. Impressions of this seal are also made 
in ink, direct upon the substance on which the brief is 
■written. The author has obtained a sight of an impres- 
sion of the Fisherman's Ring, attached to a bull or brief 
in the archives of the Catholic bishopric of 1ST ew- York, 
and liberty to copy it for publication.* The impression 
is in ink upon vellum or fine parch- 
ment, at the left hand of the extreme 
lower corner, balancing the signature 
at the other (lower) corner. "We are 
not aware that a sketch has ever be- 
fore been made public. 

A " Fisherman's King " was used 
at a very early period ; and no doubt the original device 
has been renewed. The reader will observe the antique 
form of the prow of the boat and oar, as well as the sin- 
gular flying drapery attached to the head of the figure. 
When a pope dies, the cardinal chamberlain or chan- 
cellor (camerlengo), accompanied by a large number of 
the high dignitaries of the Papal Court, comes into the 
room where the body lies ; and the principal or great 
notary makes an attestation of the circumstance. Then 
the cardinal chamberlain calls out the name of the de- 
ceased pope three times, striking the body each time 
with a gold hammer; and as no response comes, the 
chief notary makes another attestation. After this, the 
cardinal chancellor demands the Fisherman's King, and 
certain ceremonies are performed over it ; and then he 
strikes the ring with the golden hammer, and an offi- 
cer destroys the figure of Peter by the use of a file. 



* He is under obligations to the Eeverend Thomas S. Preston for this. 



78 HISTORY AND POETRY 

From this moment all the authority and acts of the late 
pope pass to the College or Conclave of Cardinals. 

"When a new pope is consecrated, it is always the 
cardinal chancellor or chamberlain who presents the 
renewed Fisherman's Ring; and this presentation is 
accompanied by imposing ceremonies. 

Gavazzi, who tilts at every matter which may appear 
mystically Catholic, just as an excited bull runs at a red 
mantle, says : "The Fisherman's Ring now in use is most 
valuable, and would hardly square with the simplicity 
of Peter ;"* and he remarks, in reference to the present 
Pope : " This man has on one of his fingers a splendid 
ring, composed of diamonds and pearls of great price, 
and this ring of §8,000 is called the Fisherman's Ring ; 
it symbolizes the ring of poor St. Peter, which cost, per- 
haps, two cents." Gavazzi must be in error. A ring 
like that of the "Fisherman's," subject to be destroyed 
on the death of a pope, would not be surrounded by 
brilliants ; and the fact that this ring is used as a signet 
to impress a gold or leaden surface, or even vellum, car- 
ries with it the conviction that it would not be encircled 
with precious stones and pearls ; for, independent of the 
chance of injury, they would impede an impression. It 
is very possible that the official ring, bearing an emerald, 
and which a pope wears as Bishop of Rome, might be 
further ornamented. We have been favored with a sight 
of a ring used by the present Archbishop of New- York, 
which is composed of an extra large oblong emerald of 
beautiful color, surrounded by brillants. This ring is 
worn on the fourth linger of the right hand. 

Horace Walpole refers to his friend Mr. Chute's play- 

* Gavazzi's Lectures, (Mew- York ed.,) 1S3. 



OF FINGER- KINGS 



79 




^ )'■ 



fully using an expression which cou- 
ples itself with the fisherman's ring : 
" Mr. Chute has received a present 
of a diamond mourning ring from a 
cousin ; he calls it Vannello delPisco- 
tore. Mr. Chute, who was unmarried, 
meant that his cousin was fishing for 
his estate." 

§ 7. There is a massive ring extant, 
chased with the arms of Pope Pius the 
Second. * It is of brass, and has been 
thickly gilt. It is set with a topaz, the 
surface of which has lost its polish. 




* London Gent.'s Mag. for 1S4S, p. 599. 



80 HISTORY AND POETRY 

On the hoop of the ring are chased the arms of Pope 
Pius the Second, of the family of Picolomini, the papal 
tiara, and this inscription, Papa Pio. The stone is set in a 
massive square facet, carried up to a considerable height 
above the finger ; and on each of the four sides is placed, 
in relief, one of the four beasts of the Revelation, which 
were used to typify the Evangelists. Pope Pius the 
Second is better known by his literary name of ^Eneas 
Sylvius. If is works, which include a History of Europe, 
a History of Bohemia and a long series of letters, have 
passed through several editions. He was elected Pope 
in 1418, and died in 1464. This ring is considerably 
larger in size than the rings usually found buried with 
bishops, and which were probably what they received 
on their consecration. It must have been intended to 
have been worn over a glove. It seems to have been 
a state ring worn on one of those occasions when all 
Christendom came to receive his benediction. 

The estates and honors which composed the ecclesias- 
tical temporalities were considered to partake of the na- 
ture of fiefs; and, therefore, to require similar investiture 
from the chief lord. Charlemagne is said to have 
introduced this practice and to have invested a newly 
consecrated bishop by placing a ring and crosier in his 
hands. 

By a Concordat at Worms, Henry Y. resigned for ever 
all pretence to invest bishops by the ring and crosier. 

§ 8. During the times of the early British kings, it 
was a rule for the monarch to invest archbishops and 
bishops, by delivery of a ring and the pastoral staff. 
Anselm was hurried into the presence of William Rufus, 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 81 

in order to be made Archbishop of Canterbury.* He 
hesitated, because he was subject to Normandy, and the 
way in which the holy men around him acted, savors 
very much of a portion of the hurly-burly of a popular 
democratic election. When no argument could prevail, 
the bishops and others who were present clapped the 
pastoral staff into his hands, forced the ring upon his 
finger, shouted for his election and bore him by force 
into the church, where Te Deum was sung. This right 
of investiture became a serious matter of dispute in the 
time of Anselm. 

Miracles have been attributed to Anselm. A Flemish 
nobleman was cured of a leprosy by drinking the water in 
which Anselm had washed his hands ; and a ship, wherein 
he sailed, having a large hole in one of her planks, 
nevertheless took in no water so long as the holy man 
was on board. f 

From the reign of Charlemagne, sovereign princes 
took upon them to give the investiture of the greater 
benefices by the ring and pastoral staff. ;f Gregory YII. 
was the first who endeavored to take from them this right, 
towards the end of the eleventh century. 

Arnulph, immediately on his consecration as Bishop 
of Eochester, gave the attendant monks to understand 
how a dream about a ring had foretold this dignity.g 
" Arnulph being received by the monks with all marks 
of respect, said to us, on the very day of his election : 
'Brethren, I had assurance given me a few days ago 
that, unworthy as I am, I should soon be raised to the 

* Eadmer, Histor. Nov., 1. i. p. 16. 

+ John of Salisbury's Life of Anselm. 

X Eapin. § William of Malmesbury. 



82 II I S T K Y AND POETRY 

dignity now conferred upon me. For as I slept one night, 
Gundulplms ' (who had been Bishop of Rochester) ' ap- 
peared to me, offering me a ring of great weight ; which 
being too heavy for me, I refused to accept it ; but he, 
chiding me for my stupidity in rejecting his present, 
obliged me to receive it, and then disappeared.' This he 
related to us ; and we were convinced it was no fantas- 
tical illusion which the holy man had seen in his sleep, 
since, being made Bishop of Rochester, he received that 
very ring, which Bishop Gundulplms, when alive, had 
given to Ralph, then an abbot, but afterwards bishop." 

Symbols of ring, staff, mitre and gloves are not used 
at the present day in the consecration of archbishops and 
bishops of the Church of England. The delivery of the 
pastoral staff in the Roman pontificate was preceded by 
its consecration, and followed by the consecration and 
putting on of a ring in token of his marriage to the 
church ; and of a mitre, as an helmet of strength and 
salvation, that his face being adorned, and his head (as 
it were) armed with the horns of both Testaments, may 
appear terrible to the adversaries of the truth, as also in 
imitation of the ornaments of Moses and Aaron ; and 
of gloves, in token of clean hands and breast to be pre- 
served by him.* 

The episcopal ring, and which is thus esteemed a 
pledge of the spiritual marriage between the bishop and 
his church, was used at a remote period. The fourth 
Council of Toledo, held in 633, appoints that a bishop 
condemned by one council and found afterwards inno- 
cent by a second should be restored by giving him the 
ring, staff, etc.f 

* Burn's Ecclesiastical Law, 209. t Encyc. Brit., Title, Ring. 



OF FINGER- RINGS. 83 

From bishops, the custom of the ring has passed to 
cardinals, who are to pay a large sum for the right to 
use a ring as such. Perhaps this arises from the fact 
that cardinals and prelates do not, strictly, belong to the 
hierarchy. 

A bishop, like a pope, receives a gold ring, set with 
a green gem. Sometimes an abbot of a convent is in- 
vested with a ring, but this is said only to occur when 
he possesses a bishop's powers. 

Solid gold rings are frequently found in tombs of 
abbots and bishops.* 

In a description of the finger-ring found in the grave of 
the venerable Bede, it is said, that no priest, during the 
reign of Catholicity in England, was buried or enshrined 
without his ring. This, however, has been questioned. f 
High dignitaries of the Church do not appear to have 
restricted themselves to a single ring. On the hands of 
the effigy of Cardinal Beaufort in Winchester Cathedral, 
there are gloves fringed with gold and having an oval- 
shaped jewel on the back; while on the middle and 
third fingers of each hand are rings worn over the gloves. 
In new paving and beautifying of Exeter Ca- 
thedral in England, a leaden coffin was found 
of a Bishop Bitton, who died in 13074 Near 
the bones of the finger was discovered a sap- 
phire ring set in gold, in the centre of which 
was engraved a hand with the two forefingers 
extended in the attitude of benediction. 
This extension of the two forefingers, in company with 
the thumb, must have been often observed in Catholic 

* London Gent's Mag., vol. lxxi. p. 1082. 

+ Notes and Queries, viii. S87. % lb. 2d vol. 4th S., 300. 




84 HISTORY AND POETRY 

pictures. We see it in the painting of the Virgin and 
Child in the Diisseldorf collection now in New-York. 

The thumb and the first two fingers have always been 
reserved as symbols of the three persons of the Trinity.* 
When a bishop gives his blessing, he blesses with the 
thumb and first two fingers. Sepulchral monuments 
bear witness of this fact. 

Both the Greek and Latin Churches agree that the 
thumb and first two fingers symbolize the Trinity, f 

It is, however, insisted that the origin of thus using the 
thumb and two fingers is not of Christian, but of heathen 
derivation ; for Apuleius mentions this practice as the 
usual one with orators soliciting the attention of an au- 
dience.:): Here we see another pagan custom become a 
Christian one. 

The hand, with the thumb and two fingers extended, 
is sometimes called the "hand of justice."§ 

Miniature hands, taking in a part of the arm, are found 
in Rome, which have the thumb and two forefingers 
extended and the remaining fingers closed. Caylus 
gives a drawing of one (two inches and nine lines in 
length) which has a serpent stretched on the back of 
the hand, after having surrounded the wrist, and a liz- 
ard, likewise in relief, placed upon the arm. J The au- 
thor we have referred to cannot account for this peculiar 
disposition of the thumb and fingers ; but he considers 
that the thins: itself was an offering, and refers to a hole 
in it by which it could be suspended. But we observe that 
Addison, in his Remarks on Italy,!" says : " The custom 

* Notes and Queries, v. 114. t lb. 492. 

X Metamorph. ii. 34. § Ennemoser, i. 258, et seq. 

I Caylus, vi. 295, PI. xciii. II Addison, (Tickell's edit.,) v. 178. 



OF FIN G>E E-EINGS. 85 

of hanging up limbs of wax, as well as pictures, is cer- 
tainly direct from the old heathens, who used, upon their 
recovery, to make an offering in wood, metal or clay of 
the part that had been afflicted with a distemper, to the 
deity that delivered them. I have seen, I believe, every 
limb of a human body figured in iron or clay which 
were formerly made on this occasion, among the several 
collections of antiquities that have been shown in Italy." 
This, however, does not account for the snake and the 
lizard, or the peculiarity of closing two fingers and ele- 
vating the others with the thumb ; and we are inclined 
to raise a question, whether the miniature hand and arm, 
figured by Caylus, was not an amulet and worn as such ? 
The position of the fingers and thumb may here denote 
power, or authority and control over noxious creatures. 
A Roman soldier going into Egypt might carry such an 
one.* (This custom of offering a model of the restored 
part, was common with the ancient Egyptians. f) 

Catholics kiss the bishop's hand, or, rather, the ring 
which he wears in virtue of his episcopal office. 

In the earliest ages bishops sealed with rings ; but 
from the ninth century they had distinct seals. £ 

* Since writing the above, we have come across Ennemoser 's History of 
Magic, who refers to these hands ; and while he takes up with the notion of 
their being votive offerings, he refers to the extended fingers to show that 
a cure had been effected by magnetic manipulation. In reference to one par- 
ticular specimen, the author considers the hand itself to be an appropriate 
emblem from having performed the cure. (Vol. i. p. 255.) This, then, does 
away with the idea that a cure in the hand itself was effected ; and if wc 
take away the hand, the remarkable figures with which it was studded do not 
seem to be connected with or emblematical of any kind of disease. All this 
brings lis nearer to our notion, that these hands were used as amulets. 

t Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, ii. 854. 

% Fcsbroke's Encyc. of Antiquities, 246. 



86 HISTORY AND POETRY 

It is said that formerly bishops wore their rings on the 
forefinger of the right hand,* 

. When a bishop receives the ring at his consecration, 
the words used are : " Receive the ring, the badge of 
fidelity, to the end that, adorned with inviolable fidelity, 
you may guard, without reproach, the Spouse of God, 
that is, the Holy Church." 

§ 9. At the English Law Bar, there is a distinction 
among the barristers. Those called Serjeants are of the 
highest and most ancient degree, and judges of the Courts 
of Westminster are always admitted into this venerable 
order before they are advanced to the Bench. 

The ceremony of making a serjeant is or rather was 
a very imposing and expensive one. Connected with 
this ceremony, the serjeant had to give a great dinner, 
"like to the feast of a king's coronation," and which 
continued seven days, and he had to present gold rings, 
bearing some loyal motto, to every prince, duke and 
archbishop present, and to every earl and bishop, lord 
privy seal, lords chief justices, lord chief baron, every 
lord baron of Parliament, abbot and notable prelate, 
worshipful knight, master of the rolls, every justice, 
baron of exchequer, chamberlain, officer and clerk of the 
courts, each receiving a ring, convenient for his degree. 
And a similar token was given to friends. 

These rings were delivered by some friend of the new 
Serjeant's and who was of the standing of barrister. He 
was called his colt. Whitlock says, when the new Ser- 
jeants counted, their colts delivered the rings. f Why 

* Notes and Queries, v. 492. 
t Wliitlock's Memoirs, p. 356, 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 87 

they are tlius called is not very clear : " colt" according 
to Shakspeare, is a young foolish fellow. 

In 1 Modern Reports, case 30, we have a hint of " short 
weight." " Seventeen Serjeants being made the 14th 
day of November, a daye or two after Serjeant Powis, 
the junior of them all, coming to the King's Bench bar, 
Lord Chief Justice Kelynge told him that he had some- 
thing to say to him, viz. : that the rings which he and 
the rest of the Serjeants had given weighed but eighteen 
shillings apiece ; whereas Fortescue, in his book De 
Laudibus Legum Anglke, says, 'The rings given to the 
chief justices and to the chief baron ought to weigh 
twenty shillings apiece ;' and that he spoke not this ex- 
pecting a recompence, but that it might not be drawn 
into a precedent, and that the young gentlemen there 
might take notice of it." 

We consider the matter about Serjeants' rings suffi- 
ciently curious and interesting to allow of our adding 
extracts from Fortescue and Cooke : 

" But this you must understand,* that when the day 
appointed is come, those elect persons, among other so- 
lemnities, must keep a great dinner, like to the feast of 
a king's coronation, which shall continue and last for the 
space of seven clays, and none of those elect persons 
shall defray the charges growing to him about the costs 
of this solemnity with less expense than the sum of four 
hundred marks ; so that the expenses which eight men 
so elect shall then bestow, will surmount to the sum of 
three thousand and two hundred marks, of which ex- 
penses one parcel shall be this : Every of them shall give 
rings of gold to the value of forty pounds sterling at the 

* Fortescue de Laud. Leguin Angl., cap. 50. 



88 niSTORY AND POETEY 

least; and jour chancellour well remembreth, that at 
what time he received this state and degree, the rings 
which he then gave stood him in fifty pounds. For every 
such Serjeant, at the clay of his creation, useth to give 
unto every prince, duke and archbishop being present 
at that solemnity and to the Lord Chancellour and Lord 
Treasurer of England a ring of the value of 26s. %d. 

" And to every earl and bishop, being likewise present, 
and also to the lord privy seal, to both the lords chief 
justices, and to the lord chief baron of the King's Exche- 
quer a ring of the value of 20s. 

" And to every lord baron of the Parliament, and to 
every abbot and notable prelate and worshipful knight, 
being then present, and also to the master of the rolls 
and to every justice a ring of the value of a mark ; and 
likewise to every baron of the exchequer, to the cham- 
berlains and to all the officers and notable men serving 
in the king's courts rings of a smaller price but agreea- 
bly to their estates to whom they are given. 

"Insomuch that there shall not be a clerk, especially 
in the Court of the Common Bench, but he shall receive 
a ring convenient for his degree ; and, besides these, they 
give divers rings to other of their friends." 

" And on Tuesday, May 10,* in the second week of 
the term, the said Sir John "Walter being of the Inner 
Temple, Sir Henry Yelverton of Grayes Inne and Sir 
Thomas Trevor of the Inner Temple, with the benchers, 
readers and others of those Inns of Court whereof they 
respectively had been, being attended by the warden of 
the Fleet and marshal! of the Exchequer, made their ap- 
pearance at Serjeants Inne in Fleet street, before the 

* 3 Cooke's Keports, 3. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 89 

two chief justices and all the justices of both benches. 
And Sir Eandolph Crew, chief justice, made a short 
speech unto them, and (because it was intended they 
should not continue Serjeants to practise) he acquainted 
them with the king's purpose of advancing them to seats 
of judicature, and exhorted them to demeane themselves 
well in their several places. Then every one in his order 
made his count, (and defences were made by the ancient 
Serjeants,) and their several writs being read, their coyfs 
and scarlet hoods were put on them, and being arrayed 
in their brown-blew gownes, went into their chambers, 
and all the judges to their several places at Westminster, 
and afterward the said three Serjeants, attyred in their 
party-coloured robes, attended with the marshall and 
warden of the Fleete, the servants of the said Serjeants 
going before them, and accompanied with the benchers 
and others of the several Inns of Court of whose society 
they had been, walked unto Westminster and there 
placed themselves in the hall over against the Common 
Pleas bar. 

" And the hall being full, a lane was made for them 
to the barre ; (the justices of the Common Bench being 
in court) they recited three several counts, (and several 
defences made to several counts,) and had their writs 
read. The first and third by Brownlow the chief pro- 
thonotary, and the second by Goulton the second pro- 
thonotary. And Sir John Walter and Thomas Trevor 
gave rings to the judges with this inscription, * Regi 
Legi servire Moertas.' And Sir Henry Yelverton gave 
rings whereof the inscription was, ' Stat Lege Corona] and 
presently after (they all standing together) returned to 
Serjeants Inn, where was a great feast, at which Sir 



90 HISTORY AND POETRY 

James Lee, Lord Treasurer and the Earl of Manchester, 
Lord President of the Council, were present." 

§ 10. Arabian princesses wear golden rings on their 
fingers, to which little bells are suspended, so that their 
superior rank may be known, and they, themselves, re- 
ceive, in passing, the homage due to them.* 

§ 11. Tne insignia of honor peculiar to the Roman 
knights were a charger, furnished at the public expense, 
a golden ring and a certain place in the theatre. f The 
senators also wore golden rings.J 

§ 12. We read of: 



" an agate stone 

On the forefinger of an alderman ;" 

but cannot discover whether an alderman in Shakspeare's 
time wore a ring in connection with his office. "We how- 
ever find this : " Grave persons, such as aldermen, used 
a plain broad gold ring upon the thumb." It may be 
that Shakspeare was not thinking of an alderman whose 
duties were attached to a mere city, but of the earl or 
alderman of a whole shire, to whom the government of 
it was intrusted. Such a person, from the authority he 
possessed, might have worn a ring of power in former 
times. The word had the same signification in general 
as senator. By Spelman's Glossary it appears there 
was anciently in England a title of aldermanniis totius 
Anglice ; and that this officer was in the nature of Lord 
Chief Justice of England. 

* Calmet's Dictionary, Art. Bells. + Koman Antiquities, by Foss, § 62. 
X lb. § 456. 



OF FINGEE-KINGS. 91 

It will be seen that there is an incorrectness in Mer- 
cutio, a Veronese and in Yerona, referring to an alderman. 
Knight, in his edition of Shakspeare, sees this and pro- 
poses that we read, instead of alderman, burgomaster. 
It has been observed that in whatever country Shak- 
speare lays the scenes of his drama, he follows the cos- 
tume of his own.* 

In a portrait of Lady Ann Clifford, the celebrated 
Countess of Pembroke, she wears a ring upon the thumb 
of her right hand. 

The mention of this lady will, at once, call up Ben 
Jonson's epitaph of the " wise, fair and good," and 
excuse us for quoting : 

" That is a touching pillar planted on the road between 
Penrith and Appleby, in the year 1656, by Anne, 
Countess Dowager of Pembroke, to commemorate her 
final parting with her mother on this spot, on the second 
of April, 1616. The inscription declares that Anne of 
Pembroke gave four pounds to be annually distributed 
' upon the stone hereby ' amongst the poor within the 
parish of Brougham. Well, after forty years of troubles 
— and troubles that must have cost the ' pious Pembroke ' 
many a bitter hour — it is pleasant to think of the daugh- 
ter returning to consecrate it. Four pounds a year could 
not do much good, you may say, to the people of 
Brougham : but it may consecrate the spot in years of 
scarcity by the thanks of people sorely pressed ; and the 
spirit of tenderness which dictated the bounty is some- 
thing to think of every year."f 

In a polyglot dictionary published in 1625, by John 

* Brande's Popular Antiquities, (by Ellis,) 264. 
t Household Words : / Give and Bequeath. 



92 FINGEE-EINGS. 

Minshew, under the article Ring Finger, it is said that 
rings were worn on the thumb by soldiers and doctors. 

A thumb-ring would not seem to be always connected 
with a dignity, if it is to be judged of through its in- 
scription or bearing. A massive thumb-ring of brass, 
strongly gilt, was formerly in the collection of the late 
Marquis of Donegal. Its motto, within side, was in 
quaint Latin, (Cauda jpiera meleor cera,) whieh may be 
rendered in this jingle: 

When God does send, 
The times shall mend.* 

* London Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxxiii. p. 17. 



CHAPTER THREE. 

RINGS HAVING SUPPOSED CHARMS OR VIRTUES, AND CON- 
NECTED WITH DEGRADATION AND SLAVERY, OR USED FOR 
SAD OR WICKED PURPOSES. 

1. Antiquity of Amulets and Enchanted and Magical Kings ; Samothracian 
Kings; Double Object in Amulets ; Substance and Form of them. 2. Pre- 
cious Stones and their Healing or Protective Powers ; Jasper; Diamond ; 
Kuby ; Carbuncle ; Jacinth ; Amethyst ; Emerald ; Topaz ; Agate ; Sapphire ; 
Opal; Cornelian; Chalcedony; Turquoise; Coral; Loadstone; Sweating 
Stones. 3. Enchanted Kings; those possessed by Execustus; Solornon's- 
Ring ; Ballads of Lambert Linkin and Hynd Horn. 4. Talismanic Ring ; 
Elizabeth of Poland ; Ring against Poison offered to Mary of Scotland ; 
Rings from the Palace at Eltham and from Coventry ; Sir Edmund Shaw ; 
Shell Ring. 5. Medicinal Kings. 6. Magical Kings; Ariosto; Ring of 
Gyges ; Sir Tristram ; Cramp Kings ; Rings to cure Convulsions, Warts, 
Wounds, Fits, Falling Sickness, etc.; Galvanic Rings; Headache and 
Plague Rings; Amulet against Storms. 7. Ordeal. 8, Punishment in 
time of Alfred. 9. Founding of Aix-la-Chapelle. 10. Ring on a Statue. 
11. Bloody Baker. 12. The Borgia Ring. 13. Rings held in the Mouth. 
14. Rings used by Thieves, Gamblers and Cheats. 15. Roman Slave. 

§ 1. Kings were made use of by way of charm and 
talisman in remote ag-es. 

Their potency was directed against fascination of every 
kind, but more particularly the evil eye, against demons 
and witches, to excite debility, against the power of 
flames, against wounds in battle and, indeed, every 
danger and most diseases. 'Nov was it the ring alone, 
for the supposed virtue existed also in the material or in 
some device or magical letter engraved upon its circum- 
ference. 



04: HISTORY AND 1* OETRY 

Shakspeare is thinking of the fascination of the eye in 
" Titus Andronicus," when he makes Aaron say :* 

" And faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes." 

It has been observed that even Solomon was not ex- 
empt from the dread of the fascination of the evil ey 3, 
and reference is made to Proverbs xxiii. : " Eat thou 
not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, nor desire 
thou his dainty meats." A writer, however, -remarks 
how the context clearly shows that nothing more is in- 
tended than to express the disquiet with which a nig- 
gardly person regards what another consumes at his 
table. f This dreaded fascination still perplexes the 
minds of Orientals ; and is not banished from Spaniik 
and Neapolitan superstitions. Naples is the headquar- 
ters for charms and amulets. All the learning has been 
collected by the Canon Jorio and the Marques Arditi.J 

We read of the Samothracian talismanic iron ring, 
engraved with magical characters, inclosing an herb cut 
at a certain time or small stones found under particular 
constellations. § Samothrace is an island of the JEgean 
sea, opposite the Trojan territory, and celebrated for its 
mysteries. An initiation into those mysteries was sup- 
posed to have efficiency in preserving persons from dan- 
gers by sea. I 

It has been observed that inscribed rings, commonly 
called talismanic or cabalistic rings, are improperly so 
designated. The mixed term is much more appropriate, 
annuli virtuosi. Perhaps mystical might be a suitable 
name. 

* Act 2, scene 1 ; and see Douce's Illustrations, 383. 

t Knight's Bible. % Spaniards and their Country, 66. 

§ Fosbroke's Ency. of Antiquities, 247-8. || Ency. Brit., Ency. Amcr. 



OF FINGER-KINGS. 95 

Although true "Abraxas" stones have that word en- 
graved upon them, and most of these are as old as the 
third century, yet this term is now applied to gems 
which bear supposed talismanic emblems, although it 
would be most proper to call them Abraxoids. 

According to Caylus, amulets were always made with 
a double object: to flatter the superstition of the people 
and serve for seals ; thus holding on to the charm itself, 
while they were able to spread a supposed effect through 
impression ; and this idea, he observes, is strengthened 
by the fact that the subjects cut upon them never appear 
in relief. 

Philostratus says : " The Indian Brahmins carry a 
staff and a ring, by means of which they are able to do 
almost any thing." Here may be the origin of similar 
articles received by Christian kings and ecclesiastics as 
emblems of power ? 

Stones and conglomerated earth were mostly used for 
amulets. 

"Wherever the living man turns up the remains of past 
ages, superstition is shown to belong to them through 
the appearance of amulets ; and no matter whether the 
subjects be Pagan or Christian — for still we find this 
proof of weakness. Even in our own day, men will 
carry these things under some creed that allows or cus- 
tom which defends their use. It is a pity such persons 
do not feel, as they must know, that he is nearest hea- 
ven whose conduct is his talisman. 

Many of the ancient amulets are in other shapes than 
rings ; often in the form of perforated cylinders, worn 
round the neck ; and we presume they were set in rings 
for convenience. 



96 HISTORY AND POETRY 

Werenfels, in his Dissertation on Superstition,* where 
he speaks of a superstitious man, says: "He will make 
use of no herbs but such as are gathered in the planetary 
hour. Against any sort of misfortune he will arm him- 
self with a ring, to which he has fixed the benevolent 
aspect of the stars and the lucky hour that was just at 
the instant flying away, but which, by a wonderful nim- 
bleness, he has seized and detained." 

A ring, being a circle, was given to the initiated in 
the Eleusinian mysteries as an amulet possessed of the 
power to avert danger. f 

We find amulets referred to in Isaiah : " In that day 
will the Lord take from them the ornaments of the feet- 
rings and the net works and the crescents, the pendents 
and the bracelets and the thin veils, the tires and the 
fetters and the zones and the perfume boxes and the 
amulets" 

Fosbroke^: says that the makers of talismanic rings 
generally used to have the sealing part made of a square 
shape ; we, however, find many of an oval form. 

"Amulet" with us, is talisman with the Arabians. 
The Jews were extremely superstitious in the use of them 
to drive away diseases; and the Mishna forbids them, 
unless received from an approved man who had cured at 
least three persons by the same means. 

The use of charms and amulets to cure diseases or 
avert danger and mischiefs, both from the body and the 
fruits of the earth, was even common among ignorant 
and superstitious Christians : for Constantine had allow- 
ed the heathen, in the beginning of his reformation, for 
some time, not only to consult their augurs in public, 

* P. 6. f Oliver on Masonry, 168. % P. 249. 



OF F INGE IS -KINGS. 



97 



but also to use charms by way of remedy for bodily dis- 
tempers, and to prevent storms of rain and hail from 
injuring the ripe fruits, as appears from the very law 
where he condemns the other sorts of magic (that tended 
to do mischief) to be punished with death. St. Chrysos- 
tom thundered against the use of amulets and charms, 
as did St. Basil and Epiphanius, which shows that this 
piece of superstition, of trying to cure diseases without 
physic, was deeply rooted in the hearts of many Chris- 
tians.* 

We here give an enlarged specimen of one of these 




Bingham's Origines Ecclesiastics, p. 943, (Bonn's edit.) 

5 



98 HIS T O E Y AND TOE T B Y 

conrplicated amulets — an amulet against evil, to act fa- 
vorably and fortunately.'"" 

The emblems are thus made out. The hare, rustic 
head and head of a goat are to be considered as repre- 
senting the god Pan, and to be a guard against fear and 
certain sudden terrors called panics, which were thought 
to be occasioned by this god.f The cornucopia (erect) 
is to confirm abundance and happiness. In Memphis a 
white cock was held to be a sacred animal. He was 
consecrated to the sun : according to the Egyptians, to 
Osiris. It was made an emblem of the soul. When 
Socrates hoped to be able to unite the divinity of his soul 
with the divinity of the greater world, he ordered a 
cock to be sacrificed to ^Esculapius, as to the physician of 
souls. This animal was sacrificed to Annubis, who was 
the sailor's Mercury. The dolphin, fed from food thrown 
away by sailors, is to represent those seeming friends 
who swim with and follow our fortunes until they get 
depth of water sufficient for themselves. Here the cock, 
by treading upon a dolphin, with a palm branch over 
him, represents the power of wisdom in the soul over a 
feigned or evil friend. 

We are inclined to present the reader with another of 
these remarkable combinations, which is said to be an 
amulet of health. { 

* Maffei, vol. ii. pi. 20, p. 42. 

t "The first author of it (general shout) was Pan, Bacchus's Lieutenant- 
General in his Indian expedition, where, being encompassed in a valley with 
an army of enemies, far superior to them in number, he advised the god to 
order his men in the night to give a general shout, which so surprised the 
opposite army that they immediately fled from their camp ; whence it came 
to pass that all sudden fears impressed upon men's spirits without any just 
reason were called by the Greeks and Eomans pannich terrors." — Potters 
Greece, iii. c. 8. % Maffei, vol. ii. pi. 21, p. 45. 



OF FINGEK-KINGS 



99 




The bird Ibis appears here as it is seen in the hiero- 
glyphics upon obelisks. It was dedicated to Osiris and 
Isis, good and salutary genii. This creature treads upon 
the crocodile, emblematical of Typhon, who was reck- 
oned among the Egyptians as the cause of every evil. 
The two-headed Janus may signify the power of the sun 
and of Osiris from east to west in the day and in the 
night (although it has been questioned whether the faces 
are not those of Pythagoras and the magician Apollo- 
nius). The goat's head, which also appeared in the last 
gem, is said to be an amulet of health and intended to 
have power to defend against evils which malice might 
work, and such its power is marked by holding in its 
mouth a monstrous crested dragon allied to hatred and 
coupled with poisonous qualities and carrying a terrible 
appearance. 

§ 2. Jasper, set in rings, took the lead of all o fliQ ^ 
precious stones in its supposed healing power ; and 



100 II I S T O E Y AND POETEY 

power was supposed to be strengthened when combined 
with silver in preference to gold. 

Even Galen has recommended a ring with jasper set 
in it and engraved with the figure of a man wearing a 
bunch of herbs round the neck. Many of the Gnostic 
or Basilidian gems, evidently used for magical and talis- 
manic purposes, were of jasper. Rings of this material, 
and to be used as marriage tokens, are said to be made 
at Wesingburg, the materials being supplied from the 
shores of Lake "Wetter. " 

Pierre de Boniface, a great alchemist and much versed 
in magic, who died in 1323, is the reputed author of a 
manuscript poem on the virtues of gems, of which the 
celebrated Nostradamus gives the following pretended 
extract : 

" The diamond renders a man invincible ; the agate 
of India or Crete, eloquent and prudent, amiable and 
agreeable ; the amethyst resists intoxication ; the corne- 
lian appeases anger ; the hyacinth provokes sleep. "f 

In a scarce poem, by T. Cutwode, entitled CaltkcB Poe- 
tarum, or the Humble Bee, (1599,) the goddess Diana is 
introduced, modestly clothing and attiring the heroine : 



That keeps just reckoning of our ckastitie. 

And therefore, ladies, it behoves you well 
To walk full warily when stones will tell." 

The ancients have had a very high esteem of the dia- 
mond, " champion of the precious stones," insomuch as 

* Archseologia, xxi. 127. 

t Fosbroke's Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, p. 246. 



OF FINGER- KINGS. 101 

they have thought it to be endued with divine virtues, 
and that if it were but worn in a ring or carried about a 
person near his heart, it would assuage the fury of his 
enemies and expel vain fears, preserve from swooning, 
drive away the vanity of dreams and terrors of the 
night and frustrate all the malign contagious power of 
poisons. 

According to Josephus, the high-priest of the Israel- 
ites wore a ring on his finger of inestimable value and 
celestial virtue ; and Aaron had one whereof the dia- 
mond, by its virtues, operated prodigious things, for 
it changed its vivid lustre into a dark color when the 
Hebrews were to be punished by death for their sins, 
wdien they were to fall by the sword it ajDpeared of a 
blood-red color, while, if they w T ere innocent, it sparkled 
as usual. 

It is reported of the diamond that it is endued with 
such a faculty as that if it be in place with a loadstone, 
it bindeth up all its power and hindereth all its attrac- 
tive virtue. Also, that if a diamond be put upon the 
head of a woman without her knowledge, it will make 
her, in her sleep, if she be faithful to her husband, to 
cast herself into his embraces ; but if she be an adulte- 
ress, to turn away from him. 

We take the above from a quaint work, by Thomas 
Nicols.* He goes on to say : " It hath been by the 
ancients esteemed powerfull for the driving away of 
Lemures, Lncubos and Succubos / and for the hindring 
of contentions and to beget in men courage, magnani- 
mitie and stout-heartednesse." 

* A Lapidary, or the History of Pretious Stones, with cautions for the un- 
deceiving of all those that deal with pretious stones, (1652,) p. 51. 



102 HISTORY AND POETRY 

A species of ruby, called Balassius, or Palatius* is 
said to restrain fury and wrath. There" is a story of 
this stone by ^Elian.f Heraclis had cured the fractured 
thigh of a stork. The creature flying in a dark night 
by a palace where one of these stones lay flaming like a 
lamp, took it up and brought it to Heraclis and cast it 
into her bosom, as a token of the acknowledgment of the 
favor which it had received from her in the cure of its 
harm. Andreas Baccius, speaking of a rubine of his 
inclosed in a ring, says that on the fifth of December, 
1600, he was travelling with his wife Catharina Adel- 
mania to Studgard, and, in his travel, he observed his 
rubine to change its glory into obscurity, whereupon he 
told his wife and prognosticated that evil thereupon 
would ensue either to himself or her, which accordingly 
did ; for, not many days after, his wife was taken ill 
with a mortal disease and died. After which, he saith, 
his rubine, of its own accord, did again recover its 
former lustre, glory, beauty and splendor. A perfectly 
pure deep carmine-red ruby often exceeds in price a 
diamond of the same size.J It has been written, that, 
if the carbuncle be worn in an amulet (or drunk) it will 
be good against poison and the plague, and will drive 
away sadness, evil thoughts, terrible dreams and evil 
spirits ; also that it cleareth the mind and keepeth the 
body in safety, and that if any danger be towards it the 
stone will ' grow black and obscure, and that being past, 
returns to its former color again. § 

The jacinth or hyacinth is said to have the faculty to 

* This name occurs among the ancients, because it is the mother-dwelling 
or the palace, as it was said, in which the carbuncle or true ruby is produced 
and dwells. — Kobell, 274. t Lib. viii. de Hist. Animal. 

% Kobell. § Nicols' Lapidary, 56-7. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 103 

procure sleep when worn in a ring on the finger. Car- 
danus says he was wont to wear one to the intent to pro- 
cure sleep, to which purpose "it seemed somewhat to 
confer, but not much." The amethyst is said, by Aris- 
totle, to hinder the ascension of vapors ; and that this is 
done by the stone drawing the vapors to itself and then 
discussing them. Andreas Baccius says that it sharpens 
the wit, diminishes sleep and resists poison. 

The emerald is said to be at enmity with all impurity ; 
and will break if it do but touch the skin of an adulterer. 
We cannot forego Nicols' description of this stone: "The 
emerald is a pretious stone or gemine of so excellent a 
viridity or spring-colour as that if a man shall look 
upon an emerald by a pleasant green meadow, it will 
be more amiable than the meadow, and overcome the 
meadow's glorie by the glorie of that spring of viriditie 
which it hath in itself. The largeness of the meadow it 
will overcome with the amplitude of its glory, where- 
with farre above its greatnesse it doth feed the eie ; and 
the virescencie of the meadow it will overcome with the 
brightnesse of its glory, which in itself seemeth to em- 
brace the glorious viridity of many springs." It is re- 
ported of Nero that he was wont to behold the fencers 
and sword players through an emerald as by a specu- 
lum or optic glass and that for this cause the jewel is 
called gemina Neronis. According to Pausanias,* the 
favorite ring of Poly crates, a tyrant of Samos, contained 
an emerald. He was advised by Amasis, king of Egypt, 
to chequer his continued prosperity and enjoyments by 
relinquishing some of his most favorite pleasures; and 
he complied by throwing into the sea this most beautiful 

* Paus. viii. c. 14. 



104 HISTORY AND POETET 

of his jewels. The voluntary loss of so precious a ring 
affected him for some time ; but a few days after, he re- 
ceived, as a present, a large fish, in whose belly the jewel 
was found. * 

Albertus Magnus observes: "If you would sharpen 
the understanding, increase riches and foresee the future, 
take an emerald. For prophesying, it must be placed 
beneath the tongue." 

The topaz is said to free men from passions and sad- 
ness of mind ; and that, if it be cast into boiling water, 
it will suddenly " astonish it into coldness." 

The agate is stated to be good against poisons. It is 
reported of the eagle that it doth carry this gem into 
her nest to secure her young from the bitings of venom- 
ous creatures. " If," says Albertus Magnus, " you would 
avoid all dangers and overcome all earthly things and 
possess a stout heart, take an agate. It causes danger 
and opposition to vanish and makes a man strong, agree- 
able and of good cheer." 

The sapphire, according to St. Jerome, will procure 
the wearer the favor with princes and all others, pacify 
enemies, free him from enchantments, bonds and im- 
prisonments and it looseth men out of prison and as- 
suageth the wrath of God. It is reported of it that it 
is of so contrary a nature to poisons that if it be put into 
a glass with a spider or laid upon the mouth of the glass 
where it is, the spider will quickly die. It is said to keep 
men pure and, therefore, is worn by priests.^ The Gentiles 
consecrated this gem to Apollo, because, in their inquiries 

* The Imperial Treasury at Vienna possesses an emerald vain"; I s% 
£50,000. 
+ Nicols 1 Lapidary, 85. % And see Kobcli's Mineral Kingdom, 274. 



OF FINGER -RINGS. 105 

at liis oracle, if they had the presence of this gem with 
them, they imagined they had their answer the sooner. 

The opal is said to sharpen the sight of its possessor 
and cloud the eyes of those who stand about him, so 
that they can neither see nor mind what is done before 
them ; for this cause it is asserted to be a safe patron of 
thieves and thefts. Albertus Magnus says, " If you wish 
to become invisible, take an opal and wrap it in a bay- 
leaf, and it is of such virtue that it will make the by- 
standers blind, hence it has been called the patron of 
thieves." Nicols gives a glowing description of this 
stone. * "The opalus is a pretious stone which hath in 
it the bright fiery flame of a carbuncle, the pure reful- 
gent purple of an amethyst, and a whole of the eme- 
rauld's spring glory or virescency, and every one of them 
shining with an incredible mixture and very much plea- 
sure." It is reported of Nonius, a Roman senator, that 
he had rather been deprived of his country and senator- 
ship than part with an opal which he had from Antonius. 

It is asserted of the cornelian that it causeth him that 
weareth it to be of a cheerful heart, free from fear and 
nobly audacious and is a good protection against witch- 
craft and fascination. 

" Chalcedony procureth victory to him that is the pos- 
sessor of it and carrieth it about him. It is much used 
for signets, for it sealeth freely without any devouring 
of the wax."f 

The report on jaspers is that they preserve men from 
drowning ; and " divers do very superstitiously attribute 
much power and virtue to them if figures, images and 
characters be engraven upon them. The effects which 

* T. 86. t Nicols. 



106 HISTORY AND POETEY 

by this means arc wrought in or for any, Andreas Bac- 
cius doth attribute to the devil."- 

We might presume that the ring of Gyges held the 
opal or the stone known as the Heliotrope or Oriental 
jasper; for Pliny gives the report of magicians that 
if this gem be anointed with the juice of the marigold, 
it will cause him that carrieth it to walk invisible. 

The forget-me-not stone, turquoise or Turkey stone, 
" ceruleous like unto a serene heaven," if worn in a ring 
of gold will, it is said, preserve men from falls and from 
the bruises proceeding of them by receiving that harm 
into itself which otherwise would fall upon the man; 
yet these virtues are said not to be in the gem except it 
has been received as a gift. " The Turkeys," says Fen- 
ton, in his Secrete Wonders of Nature,f " doth move when 
there is any peril prepared to him that weareth it." Ben 
Jonson and Drayton refer to the same superstition. 
Bueus says, that he saw a Turchoys, which, upon the 
death of its master, lost all its beauty and contracted a 
cleft, which, a certain man afterwards buying at an un- 
der price, returned again to its former glory and beauty, 
as if, observes he, by a certain sense, it had perceived 
itself to have found a new master. The same author 
says of it that it doth change, grow pale and destitute 
of its native color if he that weareth it do, at any time, 
grow infirm or weak ; and again, upon the recovery of 
its master, that it doth recover its own lovely beauty, 
which ariseth of the temperament of its own natural 
heat and becometh ceruleous like unto a serene heaven. 
According to the ancients, the wearing of the turquoise 
had a most excellent quality: it destroyed animosity 

* Nicols, 130. + 1569, p. 51. 



OF FINGEE-RINGS. 107 

and, in particular, appeased discord between man and 
wife. 

It is possible tliat Shakspeare had in his mind the seem- 
ing influence of the turquoise (as well as, its value) : 

" Tubal. One of thern showed me a ring, that he had of your daughter 
for a monkey. 

" Shylock. Out upon her ! Thou torturest me, Tubal ; it was my 
turquoise ; I had it of Leah, when I was a bachelor : I would not have 
given it for a wilderness of monkeys." 

The Arabs value the turquoise chiefly for its reputed 
talismanic qualities ; and they seek for large pieces, 
without particular reference to purity of color. The 
stones intended for amulets are usually set in small rings 
of plated tin. 

The wearing of coral in a ring has been thought of 
power to " hinder the delusions of the devil, and to secure 
men from Incubus and Succuhus."* 

All remember Shakspeare's beautiful exposition of 
adversity : 

" Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, 
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."f 

Fenton, writing in 1569, says: "There is found in 
heads of old and great toads a stone which they call 
borax or stelon : it is most commonly found in the head 
of a he-toad." They were not only considered specifics 
against poison when taken internally, but " being used 
in rings, gave forewarning against venom." This stone 
has often been sought for, but nothing has been found 
except accidental or perhaps morbid indurations of the 

* lb. 164. f As You Like It, Act 2, Sc. 1. 



108 HISTORY AND POETEY 

skull. Lupton says,* " You shall know whether the 
tode-stone be the right and perfect stone or not. Hold 
the stone before a tode, so that he may see it, and if it 
be a right and true stone, the tode will leap toward it 
and make as though he would snatch it. He envieth so 
much that man should have that stone." Nicols, in his 
Lapidary, observes :f " Some say this stone is found in the 
head of an old toad ; others say that the old toad must 
be laid upon the cloth that is red, and it will belch it up, 
or otherwise not ; you may give a like credit to both 
these reports, for as little truth is to be found in them as 
may possibly be. "Witnesse Anselinus Boetius in Lib. 2, 
in the chapter of this stone ; who saith that to try this ex- 
periment in his youth, he took an old toad and laid it upon 
a red cloth, and watched it a whole night to see it belch 
up its stone, but after his long and tedious watchful 
expectation, he found the old toad in the same posture to 
gratifie the great pangs of his whole night's restlessness. 
" Some of the toads that carry this precious jewel 
must be very large, for Boetius says the stone is found 
of the bigness of an egg^ sometimes brownish, sometimes 
reddish, sometimes yellowish, sometimes greenish." It is 
reported that if poison be present, the alleged stone will 
go into a perspiration. In connection with this sensitive- 
ness, it may be observed that precious stones are said to 
sweat at the presence of poison. We are told that the 
jewels which King John wore did so in his last sickness. 
There is no doubt, however, although Shakspeare makes 
him cry out, " Poison'd — ill fare," that John got his death 
from unripe pears and new cider. His living about three 

* First Book of Notable Things, 4to, vol. i. 
t P. 158. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 109 

days from Lis attack, is a reasonable proof of not dying 
by poison.* 

* This subject may allow us to mention what is called the " mad-stone," a 
supposed antidote to hydrophobia. The following is from the New-York 
Tribune newspaper for July 4, 1854 : 

The Mad-Stone. — The reference of The Washington Union to the mad- 
stone (one of which is now in the possession of the family of the late Mr. 
John King Churchill, in Eichmond, Va.j has drawn articles upon the subject 
from several of our cotemporaries. The Petersburg Intelligencer has been 
shown one, in the possession of Mr. Oliver, who resides in Petersburg, and, 
it is said, has several certificates of cases in which it has been successfully used 
for the bite of a mad dog. It is rectangular in shape, with parallel sides 
and polished surfaces, traversed by dark-gray and brown streaks, and about 
a size larger than half a Tonquay bean, except that it is not near so thick. 
Upon being applied to the wound of the patient, says Tlie Intelligencer, it 
soon extracts the virus, which, it is said, may be distinctly seen in the water, 
into which it is repeatedly dipped during the operation. The Portsmouth, 
Globe says : " We were raised — ' brought up' is, perhaps, the word — in Peters- 
burg, Va., and among our very earliest recollections is one concerning a cure 
from hydrophobia, made through the agency of a mad-stone. The person, 
whoever it was that was bit by a rabid dog, went to Williamsburg, in this 
State, where it was said that a mad-stone was located, and came back well, 
and was never troubled either with madness or its symptoms. Our next no- 
tice of the subject was when two individuals in Petersburg were bitten by 
mad dogs. One, we think, lived in Halifax street, and his father believing the 
mad-stone a humbug, refused to let his son go and try it. He was seized 
with the fits, after the usual medicinal agents had failed, and died in great 
agony. The other visited the mad-stone — still then at "Williamsburg — and 
entirely recovered. The next case was this : We were travelling from Paine- 
ville, Amelia County, to Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va., and stopped 
at a blacksmith's house to get dinner. In the course of conversation, he 
said he had been bit by a mad dog, that had destroyed by its bite a num- 
ber of cattle, sheep and hogs, and that he hastened at once to Williams- 
burg ; that, on the way, he had suffered much from the bite, but after the 
application of the stone, he had got relief and suffered none since. 'That 
bite, 1 said he, laying much emphasis on the cost, ' cost me nearly a hundred 
dollars. 7 

" Such is all that we remember concerning the mad-stone." 

As a pendant, we give a " slip" from the Eichmond (Virginia) Penny Post 
for August 12, 1854. The description, if it may be so called, of the stone 
referred to is remarkabio : " as large as a piece of chalk," and "almost inde- 
scribable :" 



110 HISTORY AND POETRY 

In a strange old book, and from which an interesting 
article appears in " Household "Words," it is said, the 
use of a ring, that has lain for a certain time in a spar- 
row's nest, will procure love. 



"An article which we inserted in the Penny Post some two months ago, 
has elicited remarks from the press in every quarter. We know from facts in 
our possession, that we were ' rectus in curia. 1 Mr. W. Bradly, who resides 
some half mile from the city, has left at our office the genuine Simon Pure 
mad-stone, which can be examined by the curious. We understand from Mr. 
Bradly that this stone has been in the Bradly family for more than cue hun- 
dred years ; and we are informed by gentlemen of intelligence from the coun- 
ties of Orange, Green, Culpepper and Madison that they are cognizant of 
more than fifty cures of mad-dog bites, snake and spider bites. This is a 
most valuable discovery, and one which ought to be generally known. We 
mentioned facts some time since, with regard to Sale's mad-stone, located in 
Caroline County, which excited only a sneer from the press ; none are so blind 
as those who will not see. We who write this happen to know facts con- 
nected with this matter, and we have faithfully given them. This stone is 
rather a curious-looking affair ; it is about as large as a piece of chalk, per- 
fectly porous, and truth to say, almost indescribable. When applied to the 
wound either of a snake or mad-clog bite, it will draw until all its pores are 
saturated, then drop off, and if placed in warm water will soon disgorge and 
then be ready for action again. We shall keep this stone in our office for 
several days for the inspection of the curious. It ought to be purchased by 
the city for the use of the public. We understand that Mr. Bradly will sell 
it for $5,000 ; if it saves one valuable life, it will be cheap at double that 
price." 

In connection with this, we add a letter from the Macon Journal and Mes- 
senger, (August, 1854;) 

A Tale for the Curious. — We received the following communication from 
Major J. D. Wilkes, of Dooly County. He is a highly respectable citizen, 
well known to us, and we feel no hesitation in assuring the public that he 
would mako no statements which were not fully reliable. 
" Editors of the Journal and Messenger : ■ 

" Permit me to lay before your readers a few facts which may furnish matter 
of speculation for the curious, but may be doubted by some or ridiculed by 
others. They are, nevertheless, strictly true. Some twelve years ago I went 
out with a party on a deer hunt, and shot down a fine buck. While dressing 
him, I cut up the haslet for my hounds, and in doing so, I cut out a stone of 
dark greenish color, about where the windpipe joins the lights. It was from 
an inch and a half to two inches long, and quite heavy for its size, although 



OF FIN GEE -RINGS. Ill 

§ 3. That kind of fortune-telling, called Divination, 
lias held an empire over the mind of man from the ear- 
liest period. It was practised by the Jews, Egyptians, 
Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks and Romans, and is known 
to all modern nations.* 

The species of divination by rings is called Dactylo- 
mancy.f 

it appears to be porous. I have heard of such stones from old hunters, and 
that they possessed the faculty of extracting poison, and other medical vir- 
tues, but they were seldom found. They were called beasle or bezoar stones. 
I have been a frontier man and killed many a deer, but have never found 
another of the same kind. I laid it by more as a matter of curiosity than 
'having any faith in its virtues. 

" On the 12th nit. I had a favorite dog bitten on the nose by a large rattle- 
snake. The dog at once commenced reeling and fell down. I was within a 
few feet of him, and immediately (as the only remedy at hand) forced a chew 
of tobacco down his throat. I got him home very soon and dissolved some 
alum, but found his jaws nearly set. I forced open his mouth, and poured it 
down his throat. I then recollected seeing in your paper of the 5th ult. the 
description of a stone and its virtue in extracting poison, in possession of some 
family in Virginia, which stone, I presume, was similar to the one I had taken 
from the deer. I got a bowl of warm water and applied the stone to the place 
bitten, and then dropped it into the water, when I could see a dirty, dark 
green substance shooting out of it. This I repeated three times with a sim- 
ilar result. The fourth time it seemed to show that all the poison had been 
extracted. In less than a minute the dog got up, vomited up the tobacco, 
and the swelling subsided immediately. In less than two hours he was per- 
fectly well, and eating any thing that was offered him. 

" Now I will not decide which of the three remedies — the tobacco, the alum 
or the' stone — cured the dog; but from the fact that he was immediately 
cured on the application of the stone, should reasonably weigh in favor of 
that remedy. In the article published in your paper it is remarked that ' We 
are not aware that the existence of such is known to the scientific world at 
all,' and it is spoken of cs its origin being a mystery, and wholly unknown. 
Now, will not the above facts reveal the mystery of their origin ? I have now 
several highly respectable neighbors who were with me when I obtained the 
stone. I live about nine miles east of Montezuma, in Dooly County, where 
it may be seen or the use of it obtained, by any one who may need it. 

" J. D. Wilkes." 

* Popular Delusions, ii. 298, 301 ; Ilarwood. 

t Brando, iii. S29. 



/ 



112 HISTORY AND POETRY 

Scott, in Ills work on Demonology,* observes, that in 
the now dishonored science of astrology, its professors 
pretended to have correspondence with the various spi- 
rits of the elements on the principles of the Kosicrusian 
philosophy. They affirmed they could bind to their 
service and imprison in a ring some fairy, sylph, or 
salamander and compel it to appear when called and 
render answers to such questions as the viewer should 
propose. It is remarkable that the sage himself did not 
pretend to see the spirit ; but the task of reviewer or 
reader was intrusted to a third party, a boy or girl usu- 
ally under the years of puberty. 

As to divination by means of a ring, in the first place 
the ring was to be consecrated with a great deal of mys- 
tery : " the person holding it was clad in linen garments 
to the very shoes, his head shaven all round, and he held 
the vervein plant in his hand," while, before he pro- 
ceeded on any thing, the gods were first to be appeased 
by a formulary of prayers, etc. The divination was per- 
formed by holding the ring suspended by a fine thread 
over a round table, on the edge of which were made a 
number of marks, with the twenty-four letters of the 
alphabet. The ring, in shaking or vibrating over the 
table, stops over certain of the letters, which, being joined 
together, compose the required answer, f 

Clemente Alexandrino speaks of enchanted rings 
which predicted future events — such were two possessed 
by Execustus, the tyrant of Phocis, who was able, by 
striking them together, to know, by the sound, what he 
ought to do and what was to happen to him. He was, 

* P. L>95. 

+ Ennemoser's History of Magic, ii. 456, referring to the 29th book of Am- 
mianus Marcellinus. 



OF FINGER -KINGS. 113 

however, killed through treason. The magnificent rings 
had been able to tell the time of his death, but they 
could not point out the means of avoiding it. 

Arabian writers make much mention of the magic 
rinsr of Solomon. * It is said to have been found in the 
belly of a fish ; and many fictions have been created 
about it. The Arabians have a book called Scalcuthal 
expressly on the subject of magic rings ; and they trace 
this ring of Solomon's, in a regular succession, from 
Jared the father of Enoch to Solomon.f Josephus,,J 
after extolling the wisdom and acquirements of Solomon, 
and assuring us that God had enabled him to expel 
demons by a method remaining of great force to the days 
of the historian, says : 

"I have seen a certain man of my own country whose 
name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demoni- 
acal, in the presence of Vespasian, his sons and his cap- 
tains and the whole multitude of his soldiers. The man- 
ner of the case was this : he put a ring, that had a part 
of one of those roots mentioned by Solomon, to the nos- 
trils of the demoniac ; after which, he drew out the 
demon through his nostrils ; and when the man fell 
down, immediately he adjured him to return unto him 
no more, making still mention of Solomon and reciting 
the incantations which he composed. 

* Archseologia, xxi. 12-4. 

t Solomon's wisdom and happiness have become proverbial; and the fable 
of the rabbins and the heroic and erotic poems of the Persians and Arabians 
speak of him, as the romantic traditions of the Normans and Britons do of 
King Arthur, as a fabulous monarch, whose natural science, (mentioned even 
in the Bible,) whose wise sayings and dark riddles, whose power and mag- 
nificence are attributed to magic. According to these fictions Solomon's 
ring was the talisman of his wisdom and power. — Ency. Amer., Art. Solomon. 

% Johnston's Josephus, Book viii. ch. 2. 



114 HISTORY AND POETRY 

" And wlien Eleazar would persuade and demonstrate 
to the spectators that he had such a power, he set a lit- 
tle way off a cup or basin full of water, and commanded 
the demon, as he went out of the man, to overturn it, 
and thereby to let the spectators know that he had left 
the man ; and when this was clone, the skill and wisdom 
of Solomon was shown very manifestly." 

In the popular old ballad of Lambert Linking rings 
give proof of a terrible coming event by bursting upon 
the fingers : 

-X- -X- -X- % 

" The Lord sat in England 
A drinking the wine. 

" I wish a' may be weel 
Wi' my lady at hame ; 
For the rings o' my fingers 
They're now burst in twain. 

" He saddled his horse, 

And he came riding down ; 
But as soon as he viewed, 
Belinkin came in. 

" He had na weel stepped 
Twa steps up the stair, 
Till he saw his pretty young son 
Lying dead on the floor. 

" He had na weel stepped 
Other twa up the stair, 
Till he saw his pretty lady 
Lying dead in despair. 

* Motherwell's Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 164, (Ticknor's edit.) In Chambers's 
Collection of Scotch Ballads, this story goes under the name of Lammilsin. 



OF FINGER -KINGS. 115 

" He hanged Belinkio 
Out over the gate ; 
And he burnt the fause nurice, 
Being under the grate." 

Wo would refer our reader to a beautiful Syrian le- 
gend in the " Household Words,"* in which a ring is 
made to play an interesting part upon the fingers of a 
maiden, who is able to know of the good or ill fortune 
and faith of her absent lover through its changes. He, 
in giving it, had informed her : "If good fortune is with 
me, it will retain its brightness ; if evil, dim. If I cease 
to love, and the grave opens for me, it will become 
black." Fitful changes then come and go upon the 
ring, as the light and shadow of life accompany the 
roving lover. 

There is a like notion in the ancient Scotch ballad of 
Ilyncl Horn :\ 

" And she gave to me a gay gold ring. 
With a hey lillelu and a how lo Ian ; 
With three shining diamonds set therein, 
And the birk and the brume blooms bonnic. 



" What if these diamonds lose their hue, 
With a hey lillelu and a how lo Ian, 
Just when my love begins for to rew, 

And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie. 

" For when your ring turns pale and wan, 
With a hey lillelu and a how lo Ian, 
Then I'm in love with another man, 

And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie. 
*.*-•*_■* 

* Vol. ix. p. 233. t Motherwell's Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 1S7. 



116 HISTORY AND POETRY 

" Seven long years he has been on the sea, 
With a hey lillelu and a how lo ]an ; 
And Hynd Horn has looked how his ring may be, 
And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie. 

" But when he looked this ring upon, 
With a hey lillelu and a how lo Ian, 
The shining diamonds were both pale and wan, 
And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie. 

" Oh ! the ring it was both black and blue, 
With a hey lillelu and a how lo Ian ; 
And she's either dead or she's married, 

And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie. 

" He's left the seas and he's come to the land," etc. 

John Sterling, whose life has been written bj the Rev. 
Julius Charles Hare, composed a fiction which is worked 
up through a supposed talismanic Onyx Ring. The hero 
had been reading an old book on necromancv ; it caused 
him to long to change his lot ; he appears to be able to 
do this, through the appearance or apparition of an old 
man. " Would you," says this figure, in a sweet but 
melancholy voice, " in truth accept the power of ex- 
changing your own personal existence at pleasure for 
that of other men ?" After a moment's pause, he an- 
swered boldly, " Yes." " I can bestow the power, but 
only on these conditions. You will be able to assume a 
new part in life once in each week. For the one hour 
after midnight on each Saturday, that is, for the first 
hour of the new week, you will remember all you have 
been and whatever characters you may have chosen for 
yourself. At the end of the hour you may make a new 
choice ; but, if then deferred, it will again be a week 
before the opportunity will recur. You will also be in- 



OF FIHGEE-E'INGS. 117 

capable of revealing to any one the power you are gifted 
with. And if you once resume your present -being, you 
will never again be able to cast it off. If, on these 
terms, you agree to my proposal, take this ring and wear 
it on the forefinger of your right hand. It bears the 
head of the famous Apollonius of Tyana. If you breathe 
on it at the appointed hour, you will immediately be- 
come any person you may desire to be," etc. The hero 
hesitates and says, "Before I assent to your offer, tell 
me whether you would think me wise to do so." 
" Young man, were I to choose again, my choice would 
be to fill the station where nature brought me forth and 
where God, therefore, doubtless, designed me to work." 
The ring is taken ; it is supposed to be at a time when 
this same hero is in a suspense of love, and he appears 
successively to take the form of those who are around 
the maiden of his affections. All this, in fact, is ima- 
gined by him while in sickness. lie secures his lady 
love ; and sees upon her finger an onyx ring like the 
one which had appeared to have allowed of his vision- 
ary changes. She held up her hand before his face, 
which his first impulse was to kiss ; but he saw that on. 
one of the fingers was an onyx ring. " How on earth 
did you come by that ? It has haunted me as if a magic 
Ariel were fused amid the gold or imprisoned in the 
stone." " I will tell you." And then the lady, some- 
what lamely for the story, informs him how she came into 
possession of it. The author acted cleverly in coupling 
Apollonius with this ring : for he is reputed to have 
been a most potent magician; not only miracles have 
been imputed to him, but one writer dares to rank him 
above Jesus in superhuman powers. 



118 II I S T O 11 Y AND POETEY 

§ 4. Crowned heads have believed in amulets. 

When Elizabeth of Poland could not induce her son 
Andrea to leave his lustful wife of sixteen, Joan of 
Naples, and he was determined to be and act the King 
of Sicily and Jerusalem, she drew from her finger a 
richly chased ring, took Andrea aside, placed it upon 
his finger, and, clasping him in her arms, " My son," 
she said, in a trembling voice, " since you refuse to ac- 
company me, here is a talisman which I never make 
use of but in the last extremity. While you retain this 
ring upon your finger, neither steel nor poison can injure 
you." " You see, then, my mother," answered the 
prince, smiling, " thus protected, you have no reason to 
fear for my life." "There are other deaths besides those 
by poison or steel," replied the queen, sighing. "When 
the course pursued by Andrea had determined Joan 
that he should be killed, her paramour Bertrand d'Ar- 
tois told her of the talisman. " Nevertheless, he dies," 
cried Joan. The next day, and in the castle of Aversa, 
this Queen of Naples was working, with her delicate 
hands, a rope of silk and gold. 

When conspirators flew upon him, they attempted to 
strangle him with their hands, for it was supposed he 
could not be slain by steel or poison, owing to the amu- 
let which his mother had driven him. Struggles and ter- 
ror were about to allow of his escape, when Bertrand 
d'Artois seized the prince round the body and, after a 
desperate resistance, felled him to the ground ; then 
dragging him by the hair of the head to a balcony which 
looked out upon the gardens and placing his knee upon 
his victim's breast, " This way, barons !" he cried ; " I 
have got something to strangle him with !" and, after 



OF F'mo.EE-BINGS. 119 

a desperate struggle, lie succeeded in passing a rope 
of silk and gold round the unfortunate man's neck. 
When strangled, his body was cast over the balcony. 
Charles of Duras was the mainspring of this tragedy ; 
and he afterwards died on the same spot, and was 
thrown over the same balcony. Years after and while 
Joan was a prisoner iii the castle of Aversa, two Hun- 
garian barons, in complete armor, presented themselves 
before her, making a sign that she should follow them. 
She rose and obeyed in silence ; but a dismal cry 
burst from her when she recognized the place where 
Andrea and Charles of Duras had each died a violent 
death. Recovering herself, however, she inquired, in a 
calm voice, why they had brought her to that place. 
One of the barons showed her a rope of silk and gold. 
" Let God's justice be accomplished !" cried Joan, fall- 
ing on her knees. And in a few minutes she had ceased 
to suffer. This was the third corse that was thrown over 
the balcony of Aversa." 

Patrick, Lord Ruthven, a man suspected of occult 
practices and who had been appointed of the privy 
council of Mary, Queen of Scots, offered her a ring to 
preserve her from the effects of poison. f 

Amulet rings have been used by 
persons calling themselves Chris- 
tians even in, comparatively, late 
times. Caylus gives one covered 
with letters of the twelfth century. 
The body of the ring is simple and 
square ; each of its surfaces is com- 
pletely filled with characters, skilfully engraved. 

* Causes CeMres (Dumas). f Strickland's Queens of Scotland, iii. 319. 




120 HISTORY AND POET It Y 

The words are barbarous and the whole is senseless — 
the name of Jesus Christ abbreviated with the words 
Alpha, Adonai and Agla and the cross repeated appear 
here as they frequently do upon amulets. At the end 
of the lines, two Arabic characters are distinctly marked 
7. I. These sort of characters did not pass, according 
to common opinion, from Africa to Spain until the tenth 
century ; and it was through Spain that they were com- 
municated to other parts of Europe. Rings of the shape 
of this one and for similar use often inclosed sprigs of 
some herb or hair or other light substance. The present 
one, however, is said to be solid and does not contain 
any foreign matter. 

A gold ring has been found in the palace at Eltham 
in Kent, England." It is set with an oriental ruby and 
five diamonds, placed at equal distances round the exte- 
rior. The interior is plain, but on the sides is this in- 
scription : 

Qui me portera exploitera 
Et a grand joye revendra. 
or, 

Who wears me shall perform exploits ; 
And with great joy shall return. 

From these lines it is evident that the ring has been 
worn as an amulet ; and there is a very probable conjec- 
ture that it may have been presented to some distin- 
guished personage when he was on the point of setting 
out for the Holy Land, in the time of the Crusades. 
The inscription is in small Gothic letters, but remarkably 
well formed and legible. The shape of the ruby, which 
is the principal stone, is an irregular oval, while the 

* Arclittologia, xix. 411. 



OF FIN GEE -KINGS. 121 

diamonds are all of a triangular form and in their native 
or crystallized state. 

A ring of gold was found at Coventry in England. 
It is evidently an amulet. The centre device represents 
Christ rising from the sepulchre, and in the background 
are shown the hammer, sponge and other emblems of 
his passion. On the left is figured the wound of the side, 
with the following legend : " The well of everlasting 
lyffe." In the next compartment two small wounds, with 
" The well cf comfort," " The well of grace ;" and after- 
wards, two other wounds, with the legends of " The well 
of pity," " The well of merci." On the inside is an in- 
scription in Latin which embraces the amulet, having 
reference to the three kings of Cologne.* 

Sir Edmund Shaw, goldsmith and alderman of Lon- 
don, directed by his will circa 148 7, to be made "16 
Kings of fyne Gold, to be graven with the well of pitie, 
the well of mercie and the well of everlasting life." 

Benvenuto Cellini mentions that, about the time of his 
writing, certain vases were discovered, which appeared 
to be antique urns filled with ashes. Amongst them 
were iron rings inlaid with gold, in each of which was 
set a diminutive shell. Learned antiquaries, upon inves- 
tigating the nature of these rings, declared their opinion 
that they were worn as charms by those who desired to 
behave with steadiness and resolution either in prosper- 
ous or adverse fortune. f (By way of parenthesis : This 
dare-devil man of fine taste, Cellini, having finished a 
beautiful medal for the Duke of Ferrara, the patron of 
Tasso, the magnificent Alfonso sent him a diamond ring, 

* Archoeologin, xviii. 306. 

t Egyptian rings in the form of a shell arc not uncommon. 

6 



122 HISTORY AND POETRY 

with an elegant compliment. But the ring was really 
not a valuable one. The Duke threw the mistake 
upon his treasurer, whom he affected to punish, and sent 
Cellini another ring ; but even this was not worth one 
quarter of the sum he owed him. lie accompanied it 
with a significant letter, in which he ordered him not to 
leave Ferrara. The artist, however, ran away as fast as 
his legs would carry him, and was soon delighted to find 
he was beyond the fury of the " Magnifico Alfonso.") 

§ 5. Ancient physicians carried signets or rings, fre- 
quently wearing them upon the thumb, upon which were 
engraved their own names, sometimes written backwards, 
or the denominations of the nostrums they vended. With 
regard to one of these seals, we find the word aromatica 
from aromaticum, on another melina, abbreviation of 
melinum, a collyrium prepared with the alum of the 
island of Melos.* A seal of this kind is described by 
Tochon d' Annecy bearing the words psoricum croeodem, 
an inscription that has puzzled medical antiquaries. 

It has been suggested that the use of talismanic rings 
as charms against diseases may have originated in the 
phylacteries or preservative scrolls of the Jews, although 
it is easy to imagine that, in the earliest days of medi- 
cine, the operator, after binding up a wound, would 
mutter " thrillino; words" in incantation over it, which, 
in process of time, might be, as it were, embodied and 
perpetuated in the form of an inscription, the ring, in 
some degree, representing a bandage.f It appears to 

* Milligen's Curiosities of Medical Experience, ii. 137. 
t Archscologia, xxi. 25. 



OF FINGEE- RINGS. 123 

us this is much further from fact than that a barber's 
pole represents an arm with a bandage. 

Amulet rings for medicinal purposes were greatly in 
fashion with empyrics and ancient physicians.* 

In Lucian's Philopseudes, one of the interlocutors in 
a dialogue says that since an Arabian had presented 
him with a ring of iron taken from the gallows, together 
with a charm constructed of certain hard words, he had 
ceased to be afraid of the demoniacs who had been 
healed by a Syrian in Palestine. 

In another dialogue, a man desires that Mercury should 
bestow a ring on him to insure perpetual health and pre- 
servation from all danger. 

These rings were to be worn upon the fourth or medi- 
cal finger. 

Marcellus, a physician who lived in the reign of 
Marcus Aurelius, directs the patient who is afflicted 
with a pain in the side to wear a ring of pure gold in- 
scribed with some Greek letters on a Thursday at the 
decrease of the moon. It is to be worn on the right 
side, if the pain be on the left ; and vice versa. 

Trallian, another physician who lived in the fourth 
century, cured the colic and all bilious complaints by 
means of an octangular ring of iron, upon which eight 
words were to be engraven, commanding the bile to take 
possession of a lark. A magic diagram was to be added, 
which he has not failed to preserve for the certain ad- 
vantage of his readers. He tells us that he had had 
great experience in this remedy and considered it as ex- 
tremely foolish to omit recording so valuable a treasure ; 
but he particularly enjoins the keeping it a secret from 

* Arcliocologla, xxi. 121. 



124: HISTORY AND POETRY 

the profane vulgar, according to an admonition of Hip- 
pocrates that sacred things are for sacred purposes onl^ 
The same physician, in order to cure the stone, directs 
the wearing a copper ring, with the figure of a lion, a 
crescent and a star to be placed on the fourth finger ; 
and for the colic, in general, a ring with Hercules 
strangling the Nemean lion. 

In the Plutus of Aristophanes, to a threat on the part 
of the sycophant, the just man replies that he cares 
nothing for him, as he has got a ring which he bought 
of a person, whom the scholiast conceives to have been 
an apothecary, who sold medicated rings against the in- 
fluence of demons, serpents, etc. Carion, the servant, 
sarcastically observes that this ring will not prevail 
against the bite of a sycophant.* 

As to medicinal rings, Joannes Nicolaus, a German 
professor, has most unceremoniously ascribed the power 
of all these medical charms to the influence of the devil, 
who, he says, by these means, has attracted many thou- 
sands of human beings into his dominions.f 

Lucati has attributed the modern want of virtue in 
medicated rings to their comparative smallness, contend- 
ing that the larger the ring or the gem contained in it, 
the greater the medium power, especially with those 
persons whose flesh is of a tender and penetrable nature. 

Lord Chancellor Hatton sent to Queen Elizabeth a 
ring against infectious air, " to be worn," as the old court- 
ier expresses it, " betwixt the sweet dugs' ' of her bosom. 

Ennemoser, in his History of Magic, a work made 
more visionary by the unsatisfactory additions of the 
Howitts, gravely speaks of coming events manifested 

* Plut., Act 4, § 3. f Arehaeologia, xxi. 122. 



OF FIXGEE-EINGS. 125 

in diseases. We have a betrothal ring in the folio-wins: 
extract :* 

" In the St. Yitus's dance, patients often experience 
divinatoiy visions of a fugitive nature, either referring 
to themselves or to others and occasionally in symbolic 
words. In the ' Leaves from Prevorst,' such symbolic 
somnambulism is related, and I myself have observed a 
very similar case : Miss v. Brand, during a violent pa- 
roxysm of St. Yitus's dance, suddenly saw a black evil- 
boding crow fly into the room, from which, she said, she 
was unable to protect herself, as it unceasingly flew round 
her as if it wished to make some communication. This 
appearance was of daily occurrence with the paroxysm 
for eight days afterwards. On the ninth, when the at- 
tacks had become less violent, the vision commenced 
with the appearance of a white dove, which carried a 
letter containing a betrothal ring in its beak ; shortly 
afterwards the crow flew in with a black-sealed letter. 
The next morning the post brought a letter with be- 
trothal cards from a cousin ; and a few hours after, the 
news was received of the death of her aunt in Lohburg, 
of whose illness she was ignorant. Of both these letters, 
which two different posts brought in on the same day, 
Miss v. Brand could not possibly have known any 
thing. The change of birds and their colors, during 
her recovery and before the announcement of agreeable 
or sorrowful news, the symbols of the ring and the black 
seal, exhibit, in this vision, a particularly pure expression 
of the soul as well as a correct view into the future." 

§ 6. Some of the finest scenes in Ariosto are brought 

* Vol. i. p. 76. 



126 HISTORY AND POETRY 

out through, a magic ring. When it was worn on the 
ringer, it preserved from spell ; and carried in the mouth, 
concealed the possessor from view. Thus, in the Orlando 
Furioso, where Ruggiero had Angelica in the lone forest 
and secure from sight, she discovers the magic ring upon 
her finger which her father had given her when she first 
entered Christendom and which had delivered her from 
many dangers. 

" Now that she this upon her hand surveys, 
She is so full of pleasure and surprise, 
She doubts it is a dream and, in amaze, 
Hardly believes her very hand and eyes. 
Then softly to her mouth the hoop conveys, 
And, quicker than the flash which cleaves the skies, 
From bold Rogero's sight her beauty shrouds, 
As disappears the sun concealed in clouds."* 

The ring of Gyges is taken notice of both by Plato 
and Tully. This Gyges was the master shepherd to 
King Candaules. As he was wandering over the plains 
of Lydia, he saw a great chasm in the earth and had 
the curiosity to enter it. After having descended pretty 
far into it, he found the statue of a horse in brass, with 
doors in the sides of it. Upon opening of them, he 
found the body of a dead man, bigger than ordinary, 
with a ring upon his finger, which he took off* and put 
it upon his own. The virtues of it were much greater 
than he at first imagined ; for, upon his going into the 
assembly of the shepherds, he observed that he was in- 
visible when he turned the stone of the rino- within the 
palm of his hand and visible when he turned it towards 

* Canto xi. v, 6, (Rose's translation;) and see Hunt's Stories from the 
Italian Poets. 



OF FIIGEE-EINGS. 127 

his company. By means of this ring he gained admis- 
sion into the most retired parts of the court ; and made 
such use of those opportunities that he at length became 
Xing of Lydia. The gigantic dead body to whom this 
ring belonged was said to have been an ancient Brahmin, 
who, in his time, was chief of that sect. 

Addison, in one of his Tatlers,* playfully declares he 
is in possession of this ring and leads his reader through 
different scenes, commencing thus : " About a week ago, 
not being able to sleep, I got up and put on my magical 
ring and, with a thought, transported myself into a 
chamber where I saw a light. I found it inhabited by 
a celebrated beauty, though she is of that species of 
women which we call a slattern. Her head-dress and 
one of her shoes lay upon a chair, her petticoat in one 
corner of the room and her girdle, that had a copy of 
verses made upon it but the day before, with her thread 
stocking, in the middle of the floor. I was so foolishly 
officious that I could not forbear gathering up her clothes 
together to lay them upon the chair that stood by her 
bedside, when, to my great surprise, after a little mutter- 
ing, she cried out, " What do you want ? Let my pet- 
ticoat alone." 

To have the ring of Gyges is used proverbially some- 
times of wicked, sometimes of fickle, sometimes of pros- 
perous people who obtain all they want. It is alluded 
to in Beaumont and Fletcher's Fair Maid of the Inn : 
" Have you Gyges' ring 1 , 



Or the herb that gives invisibility?" 

The Welsh Sir Tristram is described as having had, 
from his mother, a mystical ring, the insignia of a Druid. 

* No. 243. 



128 HISTORY AND POETEY 

Let us now look particularly at the subject of cramp 
rings. 

St. Edward, who died on the fifth of January, 1066, 
gave a ring which he wore to the Bishop of Westmin- 
ster. The origin of it is surrounded with much mystery. 
A pilgrim is said to have "brought it to the king and to 
have informed him that St. John the Evangelist had 
made known to the donor that the kind's decease was at 
hand.-* This " St. Edward's Ring" as it was called, 
was kept for some time at Westminster Abbey as a relic 
of the saint, and was applied for the cure of the falling 
sickness or epilepsy and for the cramp. From this arose 
the custom of the English kings, who were believed to 
have inherited St. Edward's powers of cure, solemnly 
blessing every year rings for distribution. 

Good Friday was the day appointed for the blessing 
of rings. They were often called "medycinable rings," 
and were made both of gold and silver, and the metal 
was composed of what formed the king's offering to the 
Cross on Good Friday. 

The prayers used at the ceremony of blessing the rings 
on Good Friday are published in Waldron's Literary 
Museum; and also inPegge's Cwiaiia Miscellanea, Ap* 
pendix, No. iv. p. 164. 

Cardinal Wiseman is in possession of a MS. contain- 
ing the ceremony of blessing cramp rings. It belonged 
to the English Queen Mary. At the commencement of 
the MS. are emblazoned the arms of Philip and Mary, 
around which are the badges of York and Lancaster and 
the whole is inclosed within a frame of fruit and flowers. 

*See, however, Hospiman, referred to "by Brande, vol. i. p. 151. As to 
Edward the Confessor's curing the struma, see Archeeologia, i. 162. 



OF FIN GEE- KINGS. 129 

The first ceremony is headed : " Certain Prayers to be 
used by the Queen's Leigues in the Consecration of the 
Crampe Rynges." Accompanying it is an illumination 
representing the queen kneeling, with a dish — contain- 
ing the rings to be blessed — on each side of her ; and 
another exhibits her touching for the evil a boy on his 
knees before her, introduced by the clerk of the closet ; 
his right shoulder is bared and the queen appears to be 
rubbing it with her hand. The author of the present 
work caused an application to be made for leave to take 
a copy of this illumination, so that his readers might 
have the benefit of it: the secretary of the Cardinal 
refused. 

In a medical treatise, written in the fourteenth cen- 
tury,* there is what is called the medicine against the 
cramp ; and modernizing the language, it runs thus : 
" For the Cramp. Take and cause to be gathered on 
Good Friday, at 5 Parish Churches, 5 of the first pen- 
nies that is offered at the cross, of each Church the first 
penny ; then take them all and go before the cross and 
say 5 paternosters to the worship of the 5 wounds and 
bear them on the 5 days, and say each day all much in 
the same way ; and then cause to be made a ring thereof 
without allou of other metal and write within it Jasper, 
Batasar, Altrapa" (these are blundered forms of the three 
kings of Cologne) " and write without Jh'es Kazarenus ; 
and then take it from the goldsmith upon a Friday and 
say 5 paternosters as thou did before and use it always 
afterward." 

Lord Berners, the translator of Froissart, when at the 

* London Gent.'s Magazine, vol. i., N. S., p. 49, referring to MS. Arundel. 
275, fol. 23 6. 

6* 



130 HISTOEY AND V OETEY 

court of the Emperor Charles the Fifth as ambassador 
from Henry the Eighth, in a letter dated 21st June, 1518, 
writes to Cardinal "Wolsey : " If your Grace remember 
me with some crampe rynges, ye shall do a thing much 
looked for and I trust to bestow thaym well, with Gocld's 
grace."* 

A letter from Dr. Magnus to Cardinal "Wolsey, writ- 
ten in 1526, f contains the following : " Pleas it your 
Grace to wete that M. Wiat of his goodness sent unto 
me for a present certaine cramp ringges, which I dis- 
tributed and gave to sondery myne acquaintaunce at 
Edinburghe, amonges other to Mr. Adame Otterbourne, 
who, with oone of thayme, releved a mann lying in the 
falling sekeness, in the sight of myche people ; sethenne 
whiche tyme many requestes have been made unto me 
for cramp Ringges at my departing there and also 
sethenne my comyng from thennes. May it pleas your 
Grace, therefore, to show your gracious pleasure to the 
said M. Wyat that some Ringges may be kept and sent 
into Scottelande ; which, after my poore oppynyoun, 
shulde be a good dede, remembering the power and 
operacion of thaym is knowne and proved in Edinburgh 
and that they be greatly required for the same cause by 
grete personnages and others." 

The mode of hallowing rings to cure the cramp is 
found in what is entitled an " Auncient Ordre for the 
hallowing of Cramp Rings," etc. It is amusing to read 
of the degrading course which king, queen, ladies and 
gentlemen had to take, each one creeping along a car- 
pet to a cross. The account runs thus : " Firste, the 

*Ib. 50, referring to MS. Ilarl. 295, fol. 119 b, cited by Ellis, i. 129. 
t lb. referring to MS. Cott. Calig. B. II. fol. 112. 



OF FINGER- KINGS. 131 

King to come to the Chappell or clossett, with the lords 

and noblemen wayting upon him, without any sword 

borne before hime of that day, and ther to tarrie in 

his travers until the Bishop e and the Deane have 

brought in the Crucifixe out of the vestrie and laid 

it upon the cushion before the highe alter. And then 

the usher to lay a carpet for the Kinge to creepe to 

the crosse upon. And that done, there shall be a 

forme set upon the carpett before the crucifix and a 

cushion laid upon it for the Kinge to kneel upon. And 

the Master of the Jewell house ther to be ready with 

the crampe rings in a bason of silver and the Kinge to 

kneel upon the cushion before the forme. And then the 

Gierke of the Closett be readie with the booke concern- 

inge the halowinge of the crampe rings, and the aumer 

must kneele on the right hand of the Kinge, holdinge 

the sayd booke. When that is done, the Kinge shall rise 

and go to the alter, weare a Gent. Usher shall be redie 

with a cushion for the Kinge to kneele upon ; and then 

the greatest Lords that shall be ther to take the bason 

with the rings and beare them after the King to offer. 

And thus done, the Queene shall come down out of her 

closett or traverss into the Chappell with ladyes and 

gentlewomen waiting upon her and creepe to crosse, and 

then go agayne to her clossett or traverse. And then 

the ladyes to creepe to the crosse likewise, and the Lords 

and Noblemen likewise." 

In 1536, when the convocation under Henry the 
Eighth abolished some of the old superstitious practices, 
this of creeping to the cross on Good Friday, etc., was or- 
dered to be retained as a laudable and edifying custom."* 

* London Gent.'s Magazine. 



132 II I S T O Ii Y AND l'OETE Y 

Even in the dark ages of superstition, the ancient 
British kings do not seem to have affected to cure the 
king's evil or scrofula. This gift was left to be claimed 
by the Stuarts. The Plantagenets were content to cure 
the cramp. 

In our own time we find three young men in England 
subscribing sixpence each to be moulded into a ring for 
a young woman afflicted with the cramp. 

In Berkshire, England, there is a popular superstition 
that a ring made from a piece of silver collected at the 
Communion is a cure for convulsions and fits of every 
kind.* Another curious British superstition, by way of 
charm, is recorded : that a silver ring will cure fits if it 
be made of five sixpences, collected from five different 
bachelors, to be conveyed by the hand of a bachelor to 
a smith that is a bachelor. None of the persons who 
give the sixpences are to know for what purpose or to 
whom they gave them. While, in Devonshire, there is a 
notion that the king's evil can be cured by wearing a 
ring made of three nails or screws which have been 
used to fasten a coffin that has been dug out of the 
churchyard. 

There is a medical charm in Ireland to cure warts. A 
wedding-ring is procured and the wart touched or pricked 
with a gooseberry thorn through the ring.f 

A wedding-ring rubbed upon that little abscess called 
a sty, which is frequently seen on the tarsi of the eyes, 
is said to remove it. J In Somersetshire, England, there 
is a superstition that the ring-finger, stroked along any 

* Brande's Pop. Ant. iii. 300, referring to Gent. Hag. for 1794, p. 433, C43. 
lb. 598, 889. 
t Notes and Queries, i. 349. % Ennemoscr's History of Magic, ii. 4SS. 



OF FIXGEE-EINGS. 1 So 

sore or wound, will soon heal it. All the other fingers 
are said to he poisonous, especially the forefinger.* In 
Suffolk, England, nine young men of a parish suhscrihed 
a crooked sixpence each to he moulded into a ring for a 
young woman afflicted with fits. The clergy in that 
country are not unfreqiiently asked for sacramental sil- 
ver to make rings of, to cure falling sickness ; and it is 
thought cruel to refuse. f There is a singular custom 
prevailing in some parts of Northamptonshire and pro- 
bably there are other places where a similar practice 
exists. If a female is afflicted with fits, nine pieces of 
silver money and nine three-halfpennies are collected 
from nine bachelors. The silver money is converted into 
a ring to be worn by the afflicted person and the three- 
halfpennies (i. e. 13id.) are paid to the maker of the ring, 
an inadequate remuneration for his labor but which he 
good-naturedly accepts. If the afflicted person be a male, 
the contributions are levied upon females.;); In Norfolk 
a ring was made from nine sixpences freely given by 
persons of the opposite sex and it was considered a charm 
against epilepsy. " I have seen," says a correspondent 
in Notes and Queries^ " nine sixpences brought to a sil- 
versmith, with a request that he would make them into 
a ring ; but lold. was not tendered to him for making 
nor do I think that any three-halfpennies are collected 
for payment. After the patient had left the shop, the 
silversmith informed me that such requests were of fre- 
quent occurrence and that he supplied the patients with 
thick silver rings, but never took the trouble to manu- 
facture them from the sixpences." 

* Notes and Queries, vii. 153. % Notes and Queries, vii. 146. 

t Archceologia, xxi. 25. § lb. 216. 



134 HISTORY AND POETRY 

Brande, in his Popular Antiquities* says : " A boy, 
diseased, was recommended by some village crone to 
have recourse to an alleged remedy, which has actually, 
in the enlightened days of the nineteenth century, been 
put in force. He was to obtain thirty pennies from 
thirty different persons, without telling them why or 
wherefore the sum was asked ; after receiving them, to 
get them exchanged for a half-crown of sacrament money, 
which was to be fashioned into a ring and worn by the 
patient. The pennies were obtained, but the half-crown 
was wanting — the rector of the place, very properly, 
declined taking any part in such a gross superstition. 
However, another reverend gentleman was more pliable ; 
and a ring was formed (or professed to be so) from the 
half-crown and worn by the boy. A similar instance, which 
occurred about fourteen years since, has been furnished 
to the same work by Mr. R. Bond of Gloucester : " The 
epilepsy had enervated the mental faculties of an indi- 
vidual moving in a respectable sphere in such a degree 
as to partially incapacitate him from directing his own 
affairs ; and numerous were the recipes, the gratuitous 
offering of friends, that were ineffectually resorted to by 
him. At length, however, he was told of what would 
certainly be an infallible cure, for in no instance had it 
failed ; it was, to personally collect thirty pence, from 
as many respectable matrons, and to deliver them into 
the hands of a silversmith, who, in consideration thereof, 
would supply him with a ring, wrought out of half a 
crown, which he was to wear on one of his fingers — and 
the complaint would immediately forsake him. This 
advice he followed ; and for three or four years the ring 

* Vol. iii. p. 2S0, (Ellis's edit.) 



OF FINGEK-EINGS. 135 

ornamented (if we may so express it) his fifth or little 
finger, notwithstanding the frequent relapses he experi- 
enced during that time were sufficient to convince a less 
ardent mind than his that the fits were proof against its 
influence. Finally, whilst suffering from a last visitation 
of that distressing malady, he expired, though wearing 
the ring — thus exemplifying a striking memento of the 
absurdity of the means he had had recourse to."* 

Quite recently, a new means has been contrived for 
deluding the public in the form of rings, which are to 
be worn upon the fingers and are said to prevent the 
occurrence of and cure various diseases. They are called 
galvanic rings. Although by the contact of the two 
metals of which they are composed an infinitesimally 
minute current of electricity (hence, also, of magnetism) 
is generated, still, from the absurd manner in which the 
pieces of metal composing the ring are arranged and 
which displays the most profound ignorance of the laws 
of electricity and magnetism, no trace of the minute cur- 
rent traverses the finger upon which the ring is worn ; so 
that a wooden ring or none at all would have exactly the 
same effect as regards the magnetism or galvanism. f 

Epilepsy was to be cured by wearing a ring in which 
a portion of an elk's horn was to be inclosed ; while the 
hoof of an ass, worn in the same way, had the reputation 
of preventing conjugal debility 4 

* Lupton, quoted by Brancle, says : " A piece of a child's navell string-, 
borne in a ring, is good against the falling sickness, the pain of the head and 
the collick." 

" Annuhis frigatorius. A ring made of glass {salt) of antimony, formerly 
supposed to have the power of purging." Gardiner's Medical Dictionary. 

t Beckmann's History of Inventions, i. 46, (Bonn's edit.) 

% See also Burton's Anat. of Melancholy, (1621,) p. 476 ; Browne, ch. xviii. 



lot) II I S T II Y AND POETRY 

Michaelis, a physician at Leipsic, liacl a ring made of 
the tooth of a sea-horse, by which he pretended to cure 
diseases of every kind.* Rings of lead, mixed with 
quicksilver, were used against headache ; and even the 
chains of criminals and iron used in the construction of 
gibbets were applied to the removal of complaints. 

Rings simply made of gold were supposed to cure St. 
Anthony's fire ; but, if inscribed with magic words, their 
power was irresistible. 

"With regard to rings supposed to possess magical pro- 
perties, there is one with an inscription in the Runic cha- 
racter, on jasper, being a Dano-Saxon amulet against the 
plague. The translation is thus given : 

" Raise us from dust we pray thee, 
From Pestilence, set us free, 
Although the Grave unwilling be."f 

On another ring, inscribed with similar characters, 
and evidently intended for the same purpose, the legend 
is as follows : 

" Whether hi fever or leprosy, let the patient he happy 
and confident in the hope of recovery "% 

Rings against the plague were often inscribed Jesus — ■ 
Maria — Joseph or I. II. S. JSTazarenus — Bex — Judmo- 
rum. 

A ring was dug up in England, with the figure of St. 
Barbara upon it. She is the patroness against storms ; 
and it was most likely an intended amulet against them.§ 
However, St. Barbara was not solely here depended 
upon, for it has around it Jesu et Maria. 

* Arcliseologia, xxi. 122 ; Illustrated Magazine of Art, i. 11. 
t Arcliseologia, (Loudon,) xxi. 25. % lb. 117. 

§ London Gent.'s Mag. vol. Ixxv. p. 801. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 137 

§ 7. Tlie ordeal of touch, by a person accused of mur- 
der, remarkably appears in an English trial.* There, the 
murdered woman, at the touch of the accused, " thrust 
out the ring or marriage finger three times and pulled it 
in again and the finger dropped blood upon the grass." 
The report goes on to say, that "Sir Nicholas Hyde, 
seeming to doubt the evidence, ashed the witness, ' Who 
saw this besides you \ ' Witness. 'I cannot swear what 
others saw ; but, my lord, I do believe the whole com- 
pany saw it ; and if it had been thought a doubt, proof 
would have been made of it, and many would have 
attested with me.' The witness observing some admira- 
tion in the auditors, spake further : ' My lord, I am min- 
ister of the parish and have long known all the parties, 
but never had any occasion of displeasure against any of 
them, nor had to do with them or they with me, but as 
I was minister, the thing was wonderful to me ; but I 
have no interest in the matter, but as called upon to tes- 
tify the truth, that I have done. My lord, my brother 
here present is minister of the next parish adjoining, and, 
I am assured, saw all done that I have affirmed.' " The 
clergyman so appealed to confirmed the statement ; and 
the accused were convicted and hanged. 

§ 8. Amongst the dooms or punishments which yEthel- 
birht, King of Kent, established in the days of Augus- 
tine, the amount of what was called hot or damages to be 
paid for every description of injury to the person is fully 
detailed. f The laws of King Alfred comprise, likewise, 
numerous clauses respecting compensation for wounds 

* Vol. xiv. of State Trials, case of Mary Norkott and John Okeman. 
t Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 8vo. vol. i. p. 13. 



138 HISTORY AND POETEY 

inflicted ; and the term " dolzbote" occurs in c. 23, re- 
lating to tearing by a dog. A silver ring was found 
in Essex, England, inscribed with the Anglo-Saxon word 
dolzbot, the exact meaning of which is compensation 
made for giving a man a wound either by a stab or 
blow.* 

§ 9. We find a romantic story coupled with the found- 
ing of Aix-la-Chapelle. Petrarch relatesf of Charles 
the Great of France, that this monarch was so fondly 
attached to a fair lady that, after her death, he carried 
about her embalmed body in a superb coffin and that 
he could not indeed forsake it, because, under the tongue, 
w T as a gem " enchassee" in a very small ring. 

A venerable and learned bishop, who thought a living 
beauty was preferable to the remains of a departed one, 
rebuked his sovereign for his irreligious and strange 
passion and revealed to him the important secret that 
his love arose from a charm that lay under the woman's 
tongue. Whereupon the bishop went to the woman's 
corse and drew from her mouth the ring ; which the 
emperor had scarcely looked upon when he abhorred 
the former object of his attachment and felt such an 
extraordinary regard for the bishop that he could not 
dispense with his presence for a single moment, until 
the good prelate was so troubled with royal favor that 
he cast the ring into a lake or marsh. The emperor 
happened to be attracted to the site of the submerged 
ring ; and, in consequence, founded upon it a palace and 
church, which gave birth to Aix-la-Chapelle. 

The Germans have a legend which they connect with 

* lb. p. 79. t Mem. de Pctrarquc, i. 210. 



OF FIN GEE-KING S. 139 

what must Lave been this ring. It runs thus : Charle- 
magne, although near his dissolution, lingered in cease- 
less agony, until the archbishop who attended him caused 
the lake to be dragged and, silently placing the talisman 
on the person of the dying monarch, his struggling soul 
parted quietly away. This talisman is said to be in the 
possession of Louis Napoleon; but it is described as a 
small nut, in a gold filagree envelopment, found round 
the neck of Charlemagne on the opening of his tomb and 
given by the town of Aix-la-Chapelle to Bonaparte and 
by him to his favorite Iiortense, ci-devant Queen of Hol- 
land, at whose death it descended to her son. In the 
German legend it is said to have been framed by some 
of the magi in the train of the ambassadors of Aaroun- 
al-Raschid to the mighty Emperor of the West, at the 
instance of his spouse Fastrada, with the virtue that her 
husband should be always fascinated towards the person 
or thing on which it was.* 

§ 10. Some of our readers are lovers of operatic mu- 
sic, and have heard Zamjpa. The placing of a ring on 
the finger of a statue and its consequences must have 
been gathered from a story by Floriguus. He mentions 
the case of a young gentleman of Rome, who, on his 
wedding day, went out walking with his bride and 
some friend after dinner ; towards evening, he got to a 
tennis-court and while he played he took off his ring 
and placed it upon the finger of a brass statue of Venus. 
The game finished, he went to fetch his ring ; but Yenus 
had bent her finger upon it and he could not get it off. 
Whereupon, loth to make his companions tarry, lie there 

* Notes and Queries, i. 140. 



140 HIST.OEY AND POETEI 

left it, intending to fetch it the next clay, went then to 
snpper and, so, to bed ; but, in the night, the truly brazen 
Venus had slipped between him and his bride, and thus 
troubled him for several successive nights. Not know- 
ing how to help himself, he made his moan to one Pa- 
lumbus, a learned magician, who gave him a letter and 
bade him, at such a time of the night, in such a cross- 
way, where old Saturn would pass by with his associ- 
ates, to deliver to him the epistle. The young man, of 
a bold spirit, accordingly did so ; and when Saturn had 
read it, he called Yenus, who was riding before him, and 
commanded her to deliver the ring, which forthwith she 
did. 

Moore has even made use of this tale. He calls it 
" The Ring," and uses upwards of sixty stanzas on it. 
lie seems here to have laid aside, as much as it was 
possible for him, his usual polish and tried to imitate 
Monk Lewis. The scene is laid in Christian times ; his 
hero is one Rupert ; and the deliverer a Father Austin. 
Moore says he met with the story in a German work, 
" Fromman upon Fascination ;" while Fromman quotes 
it from Belaucensis. 

It is remarkable how often we find stories, which have 
originated in heathen times, made a vehicle for Catholic 
tales. The above has found its way into monkish legend. 

In The Miracles of the Virgin If ary] compiled in the 
twelfth century, by a French monk,* there is a tale of a 
young man, who, falling in love with an image of the 
Virgin, inadvertently placed on one of its fingers a ring, 
which he had received from his mistress, accompanying 
the gift with the most tender language of respect and 

* Sec Donee's Must, of Shakspeare, p. GO. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 141 

affection. A miracle instantly took place and the ring 
remained immovable. The young man, greatly alarmed 
for the consequences of his rashness, consulted his friends, 
who advised him, by all means, to devote himself en- 
tirely to the service of the Madonna. His love for his 
former mistress prevailed over their remonstrances and 
he married her ; but on the wedding-night, the newly be- 
trothed lady appeared to him and urged her claim, with 
so many dreadful menaces that the poor man felt him- 
self compelled to abandon his bride and, that very night, 
to retire privately to a hermitage, where he became a 
monk for the rest of his life. This story has been trans- 
lated by Mons. Le Grand, in his entertaining collection 
of fabliaux, where the ring is called a marriage-ring. 

Perhaps this last story grew out of the legend of St. 
Agnes. A priest, who officiated in a church dedicated 
to St. Agnes, was very desirous of being married. Ho 
prayed the Pope's license, who gave it him, together 
with an emerald ring ; and commanded him to pay his 
addresses to the ima^e of St. Airnes in his own church. 
Then the priest did so and the image put forth her 
fmger and lie put the ring thereon ; whereupon the 
image drew her linger in again and kept the ring fast — 
and the priest was contented to remain a bachelor ; " and 
yet, as it is sayd, the rynge is on the fynger of the y mage."* 

§ 11. There is a legend of a Sir Pi chard Baker, who 
was surnamed Bloody Baker, wherein a ring bears its 
part.f This Sir Pichard Baker was buried in Cranbrook 
church, Kent, England, and his gauntlet, gloves, helmet 

* Hone's Every Day Book, i. 141. 
+ Notes and Queries, vol. ii. p. G7. 



142 HISTORY AND POETRY 

and spurs are suspended over his tomb. The gloves are 
red. The Baker family had formerly large possessions 
in Cranbrook ; but in the reign of Edward VI. great 
misfortunes fell on them ; by extravagance and dissipa- 
tion they gradually lost all their lands, until an old house 
in the village (now used as the poor-house) was all that 
remained to them. The sole representative of the family 
remaining at the accession of Queen Mary was Sir Ri- 
chard Baker. He had spent some years abroad in con- 
sequence of a duel ; but when Mary reigned he thought 
he might safely return, as he was a papist ; when he came 
to Cranbrook, he took up his abode in his old house ; he 
brought one foreign servant with him ; and only these two 
lived there. Yery soon strange stories began to be whis- 
pered respecting unearthly shrieks having been heard 
frequently to issue at nightfall from his house. Many 
people of importance were stopped and robbed in the 
Glastonbury woods and many unfortunate travellers were 
missed and never heard of more. Richard Baker still con- 
tinued to live in seclusion, but he gradually repurchased 
his alienated property, although he was known to have 
spent all he possessed before he left England. But wick- 
edness was not always to j>rosper. He formed an appa- 
rent attachment to a young lady in the neighborhood, 
remarkable for always wearing a great many jewels. He 
often pressed her to come and see his old house, telling 
her he had many curious things he wished to show her. 
She had always resisted fixing a day for her visit, but 
happening to walk within a short distance of his house, she 
determined to surprise him with a visit ; her companion, 
a lady older than herself, endeavored to dissuade her 
from doing so, but she would not be turned from her 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 143 

purpose. They knocked at the door, but no one answered 
them ; they, however, discovered it was not locked and 
determined to enter. At the head of the stairs lmnc: a 
parrot which, on their passing, cried out : 

" Peepoh, pretty lady, be not too bold, 
Or your red blood will soon run cold." 

And cold did run the blood of the adventurous damsel 
when, on opening one of the room doors, she found it 
filled with the dead bodies of murdered persons, chiefly 
women. Just then they heard a noise and on looking 
out of the window saw Bloody Baker and his servant 
bringing in the murdered body of a lady. Nearly 
dead with fear, they concealed themselves in a re- 
cess under the staircase. As the murderers, with their 
dead burthen, passed by them, the hand of the un- 
fortunate murdered lady hung in the baluster of the 
stairs ; with an oath, Bloody Baker chopped it off and 
it fell into the lap of one of the concealed ladies. As 
soon as the murderers had passed by, the ladies ran 
away, having the presence of mind to carry with them 
the dead hand, on one of the fingers of which was a 
ring. On reaching home, they told their story ; and, in 
confirmation of it, displayed the ring. All the families 
who had lost relatives mysteriously were then told of 
what had been found out ; and they determined to ask 
Baker to a large party, apparently in a friendly manner, 
but to have officers concealed. He came, suspecting 
nothing ; and then the lady told him all she had seen, 
pretending it was a dream. "Fair lady," said he, 
" dreams are nothing ; they are but fables." " They 
may be fables," said she, "but is this a fable?" and she 



1±± HISTORY AND POETRY 

produced the hand and ring. Upon this the officers 
rushed in and took him ; and the tradition further says, 
he was burnt, notwithstanding Queen Mary tried to save 
him on account of the religion he professed. 

§ 12. Dumas has it* that Ccesar Borgia wore a ring, com- 
posed of two lion's heads, the stone of which he turned 
inward when he wished to press the hand of " a friend." 
It was then the lion's teeth became those of a viper 
charged with poison. (His infamous father, the old poi- 
soner Alexander VI., kept a poisoned key by him, and 
when his " holiness" wished to rid himself of some one 
of his familiars, he desired him to open a certain ward- 
robe, but as the lock of this was difficult to turn, force 
was required before the bolt yielded, by which a small 
point in the handle of the key left a slight scratch upon 
the hand, which proved mortal.) 

§ 13. Liceto, as referred to by Maffei, gives an exam- 
ple of a ring forming part of the Barberini collection, 
which has engraved upon the stone a Cupid with butter- 
flies ; and, on the hoojD of it, Mel Amoves, i. e. My Loves. 
This shows a freedom of subject that may have reference 
to pretty plain flirting or wantonness. A fragment of 
Ennius, which runs thus : Others give a ring to be viewed 
from the lips, is coupled with a wanton custom (in full 
vigor in the time of Plautus) for loose characters to take 
the hoop of the ring with the teeth and, leaving the stone 
out of the mouth, thus invite young persons to see either 
the figure or minute characters and who had to approach 
very close to do it. 

* Crimes Ctil^brcs. 



OF FINGER -KINGS. 145 

§ 14. We have heard of rings with delicate spring-lan- 
cets or cutting-hooks, used by thieves to cut pockets be- 
fore they pick them. 

It is said that gamblers have rings with movable parts, 
which will show a diminutive heart, spade, club or dia- 
mond according as a partner desires a particular suit or 
card to be led. 

Thieves in America will often wear a ring with the 
head of a dog projecting and its ear sharpened and still 
farther extended, so that a blow with it would cut like 
any sharply pointed instrument. The present Chief of 
Police in New- York is in the habit of clipping off these 
sharp ears whenever he has a rogue in custody who pos- 
sesses such a ring. And characters of the like class wear 
one bearing a triangular pyramid of metal, with which 
they can give a terrible blow. 

The crime of ring-dropping consists, generally, in a 
rogue's stooping down and seeming to pick up a purse 
containing a ring and a paper, which is made in the form 
of a receipt from a jeweller, descriptive of the ring and 
making it a " rich, brilliant, diamond ring ;" and in the 
fellow's proposing, for a specified payment, to share its 
value with you. 

When Charles YIII. of France crossed the Alps, he 
descended into Piedmont and the IVIontferrat, which 
was governed by two Pegents, Princes Charles Jean 
Aime and Guillaume Jean. They advanced to meet 
Charles, each at the head of a numerous and brilliant 
court and shining with jewels. Charles, aware that, not- 
withstanding their friendly indications, they had, never- 
theless, signed a treaty with his enemy, received them 
with the greatest courtesy ; and as they were profuse in 

7 



146 HISTORY AND POETEY 

their professions of amity, lie suddenly required of them 
a proof : it was, to lend him the diamonds they then wore. 
The two regents could but obey a request which pos- 
sessed all the characteristics of a command. They took 
off their rings and other trinkets, for which Charles gave 
them a detailed receipt and, then, pledged them for 
twenty-four thousand ducats.* 

§ 15. When the Roman slave was allowed his liberty, 
he received, with a cap and white vest, a ring. The ring 
was of iron.f We have not heard the origin of this stated, 
but it appears to us it was gathered from the fable of 
Prometheus. The slave had been fastened, as it were, to 
the Caucasus of bondage ; and when freed from that, he 
had, still, as Prometheus had, to wear an iron ring, by 
way of remembrance. He was not permitted to have 
one of gold, for that was a badge of citizenship.;): How- 
ever, vanity is inherent in bond and free ; and slaves 
began to cover their iron rings with gold, while others 
presumed to wear the precious metals alone. § The iron 
rings of slaves were alluded to by Statius, who died about 
thirty years later than Pliny.] Apuleius introduces a 
slave, with an iron ring, bearing a device. 

We all remember Moore's lines, beginning with : 

" Rich and rare were the gems she wore, 
And a bright gold ring on her wand she bore." 

This was rather an Irish way of wearing a ring, on the 
top of a snow-white wand, instead of upon a lily-white 

* Crimes Celfebres, (Dumas.) f Roman Antiquities, by Fuss, § 62. 

% Blair's Eoman Slavery, 97 ; and see note 50, p. 241. § Pbny, xxxiii. 
|| Lacrim. Etrus., (Sylv. iii. 3,) u Icevceque ignobile ferrum." 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 147 

finger. The poet works out and polishes and varnishes 
these verses from the following story in Warren's His- 
tory of Ireland :* A young lady, of great beauty, adorn- 
ed with jewels and a costly dress, undertook a journey 
alone, from one end of the kingdom to the other, with a 
wand only in her hand, at the top of which was a ring 
of exceeding great value ; and such an impression had 
the laws and government of the then monarch, Brian 
Borholme, made on the minds of all the people that no 
attempt was made upon her honor, nor was she robbed 
of her clothes or jewels. Ireland may or not be changed 
since that time ; yet the monarch Brian does not seem 
to have worked through moral suasion, if we may believe 
an Irish verse-maker, who certainly uses neither the 
delicacy of sentiment nor the polish of Moore : 

" Oh, brave King Brian ! he knew the way 
To keep the peace and to make them pay ; 
For those who were bad, he knocked off their head ; 
And those who were worse, he kilt them dead." 

* Vol. i. book x. 



CHAPTER FOUR. 

RINGS COUPLED WITH REMARKABLE HISTORICAL CHARAC- 
TERS OR CIRCUMSTANCES. 

1. King of Suphis ; Pharaoh's King given to Joseph. 2. Rings of Hannibal ; 
Mithridates ; Pompey ; Caesar ; Augustus and Nero. 3. Cameo. 4. Ethel- 
woulf; Macloc; Edward the Confessor ; King John; LordL'Isle; Richard 
Bertie and his Son Lord Willoughby ; Great Earl of Cork ; Shakspeare's 
Signet-Ring ; The Ring Queen Elizabeth gave to Essex ; Ring of Mary of 
Scotland and one sent by her to Elizabeth ; Darnley ; The Blue Ring ; Duke 
of Dorset ; Ring in the Isle of Wight supposed to have belonged to Charles 
the First, and Memorial Rings of this Monarch ; Earl of^Derby ; Charles 
the Second ; Jeffrey's Blood-Stone ; The great Dundee ; Nelson ; Scotch 
Coronation Ring ; The Admirable Crichton ; Sir Isaac Newton ; Kean ; 
Wedding King of Byron's Mother. 5. Matrons of Warsaw. 6. The Prus- 
sian Maiden. 

§ 1. When Egypt is mentioned, the Pyramids rise in 
their snbimity — a sublimity made perfect by their vast- 
ness and mysterious age. We can fancy Abraham be- 
holding them with awe, as, in the moonlight, they seemed 
to be awful and gigantic reflexes of his own tents loom- 
ing into the heavens. We can imagine Alexander, rush- 
ing triumphantly on as the sun warmed and brightened 
their points ; and Cambyses, within their shadow, horri- 
fying the Egyptians by the destruction of their god Apis. 
We can hear, too, the modern destroyer, with the bom- 
bastic cry to his soldiers that, from the summits of those 
monuments, forty centuries looked down upon them : 
they must indeed have looked down upon those who 



FINGER-RINGS. 149 

came as locusts and were swept away like them ! And 
as our minds enter, from the outward heat, into the cold 
chamber of the Pyramids, we observe Champollion, Wil- 
kinson, Yyse and Lepsius unrolling ages with the un- 
winding of papyrus and illuminated bandage. 

Let us, however, attempt to sink these mighty moun- 
tains of man's labor below the desert — upon which they 
now heavily press as though they were sealing the earth 
— and bring up, amid the vast desert and in their place, 
a single figure, bearing a signet-ring upon its finger. It 
is Suphis or Cheops, King of Memphis, who caused the 
Great Pyramid to be made for his monument. What a 
speck, for such a tomb ! The monuments of man take 
up much space. Here was a whole nation employed to 
make one man's mausoleum. We fear that the virtues 
which live after men could often go within the compass 
of their finger-ring. 

To every kingly order or decree connected with the 
foundation of the Great Pyramid or with the thousands 
of men who had to work or with the prodigious mate- 
rial employed, an impression of the signet-ring of Suphis 
had to be attached. Rings have been used for higher 
and holier things ; but never for so vast a human pur- 
pose. 

Now, bring up, once more, (through the mind's en- 
chantment,) the Pyramids, built upwards of two thou- 
sand years before the time of Christ, with all the busy 
centuries which have encircled them ; and looking back, 
we can hardly think that this ring of Suphis, a circle 
which an inch square might hold — is undestroyed ! And 
even if it be, we can scarcely believe that it is to be 
seen within the sweep of our own observation. The city 



150 



HISTORY AND POETRY 



of New- York holds the ring of Suphis. In the Egyptian 
collection formed by Dr. Abbott is this ring. And if 
exquisite work can add to its value, it has it in a high 
degree. Beautiful in execution ; — there is something 
wonderful in its preservation ; while a species of awe, 
seldom attaching to a small substance, seems to chill 
our nature and we are dumb while we look upon it. 

Here is the most valuable antique ring in the world. 
This ring alone ought to be sufficient to secure the col- 
lection to New- York for ever.* 





It may be well to copy a description of this relic as it 
appears in Dr. Abbott's Catalogue : 

" This remarkable piece of antiquity is in the highest 
state of preservation, and was found at Ghizeh, in a 
tomb near that excavation of Colonel Yyse's called Camp- 
bell's tomb. It is of fine gold ; and weighs nearly three 
sovereigns. The style of the hieroglyphics is in perfect 
accordance with those in the tombs about the Great 
Pyramid, and the hieroglyphics within the oval make 



* We write at a time wlien a subscription is going among the inhabitants 
of New-York for the purchase of this collection ; and already have private 
citizens subscribed to the amount of $25,000. This tells well for republican 
individual enterprise and taste. 

The author has to acknowledge the prompt kindness of Dr. Abbott, in 
allowing him to take impressions as well from the Suphis-ring as from many 
others in the Doctor's collection. 



OF FINGER- KINGS. 151 

the name of that Pharaoh of whom the pyramid was the 
tomb. The details are minutely accurate and beauti- 
fully executed. The heaven is engraved with stars : the 
fox or jackal has significant lines within its contour: 
the hatchets have their handles bound with thongs, as is 
usual in the sculptures ; the volumes have the string 
which binds them hanging below the roll, differing in 
this respect from any example in sculptured or painted 
hieroglyphics. The determinative for country is studded 
with dots, representing the sand of the mountains at the 
margin of the valley of Egypt. The instrument, as in 
the larger hieroglyphics, has the tongue and semi- lunar 
mark of the sculptured examples ; as is the case also 
with the heart-shaped vase. The name is surmounted 
with the globe and feathers, decorated in the usual man- 
ner ; and the ring of the cartouch is engraved with 
marks representing a rope, never seen in the sculptures : 
and the only instance of a royal name similarly encircled 
is a porcelain example in this collection, inclosing the 
name of the father of Sesostris. The O in the name is 
placed as in the examples sculptured in the tombs, not 
in the axis of the cartouch. The chickens have their 
unfledged wings ; the cerastes its horns, now only to be 
seen with the magnifying glass." 

Probably the next most important ring is one believed 
to have been that which w T as given by Pharaoh to the 
patriarch Joseph. Upon opening, in the winter of 1824, 
a tomb in the necropolis of Sakkara near Memphis, 
Arab workmen discovered a mummy, every limb of 
which was cased in solid gold ; each finger had its par- 
ticular envelope, inscribed with hieroglyphics : " So 
Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old ; and 



152 



HISTORY AND POETRY 



they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in 
Egypt."* A golden scarabseus or beetle was attached 
to the neck by a chain of the same metal ; a signet-ring 
was also found, a pair of golden bracelets and other 
relics of value.f The excavation had been made at the 
charge of the Swedish Consul ; but the articles disco- 
vered became the prize of the laborers. By a liberal 




Signet of the actual size. 



s 





1 



application of the cudgel, the scarabeeus with its chain, a 
fragment of the gold envelope and the bracelets were 
recovered. The bracelets are now in the Leyden Mu- 
seum, and bear the same name as the ring.J This signet- 
ring, however, which was not given up at the time, 

* Genesis, ch. 1. v. 26. 

t Pote's Inqufty into the Phonetic Beading of the Ashburnham Signet. 
(Pickering, 184.1.) 
X See Wilkinson's Manners of the Egyptians, iii. 374. 



OF FINGEE-EOGS. 153 

found its way to Cairo and was there purchased by the 
Earl of Ashburnham. That nobleman having put his 
collection of relics, with his baggage, on board a brig 
chartered in Alexandria for Smyrna, the vessel was 
plundered by Greek pirates, who sold their booty in the 
island of Syra. The signet in question fell thus into the 
hands of a Greek merchant, who kept it till about three 
years ago, when it was sold in Constantinople and pur- 
chased and brought finally to England. It is again in 
the possession of the Earl of Ashburnham. This signet 
has been assigned to the age of Thothmes III. The quan- 
tity and nature of the golden decorations existing in the 
tomb referred to indicate it as the sepulchre of one of 
the Pharaohs or of some highly distinguished officer of 
the royal household ; and a calculation places the death 
of the patriarch Joseph in about the twentieth year of 
the reign of Thothmes III. The signet would be an ex- 
cellent specimen of the antique of a kind called Tabat, 
still common in the country and which resemble, in all 
but the engraved name upon this signet, the ring placed 
by Pharaoh on Joseph's hand. The seal turns on a 
swivel, (and, so, has two tablets,) and, with the ring or 
circle of the signet, is of very pure and massive gold. 
The carving is very superior and also bold and sharp 
which may be accounted for from the difficult oxydiz 
tion of gold above all metals. In connection with this 
ring, it is necessary to remember what occurred when 
" Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it 
upon Joseph's hand." — " And he made him to ride in 
the second chariot which he had ; and they cried before 
him, Bow the knee ; and he made him ruler over all the 
land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am 

7* 



za- 



15i HISTORY AND POETEY 

Pharaoh and without thee shall no man lift up his hand 
or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called 
Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneaii." The seal has the 
cartouch of Pharaoh. And one line upon it has been 
construed into Pacmeah, the name bestowed by Pharaoh 
on Joseph. This signifies, in combination with " Zaph- 
nath" either, the Pevealer of Secrets, or, the Preserver of 
the World. 

A discovery of the ring of Suphis and that which 
Pharaoh gave to Joseph appears to border on the mar- 
vellous; and, yet, such things were and gentleness of 
climate may allow us to suppose that they still exist, — 
while modern energy, science and learning are so laying 
bare the world's sepulchre of the past that we ought not 
to disbelieve at the suggested resurrection of any thing. 
In excavations recently made in Persia, the palace of 
Shushan and the tomb of Daniel have probably been 
found ; and also the very pavement described in Esther, 
i. 6, " of red and blue and white and green marble."* 

§ 2. Hannibal carried his death in his ring, which was 
a singular one. When the Roman ambassadors required 
the king of Bythiiria to give Hannibal up, the latter, on 
the point of the king's doing so, swallowed poison, which 
he always carried about in his ring. In the late war 
between America and Mexico, rings were found upon 
the fingers of dead officers of the latter country. These 
opened and, it is said, a poisonous substance w T as disco- 

* On the tomb is the sculptured figure of a man bound hand and foot, with 
a huge lion in the act of springing upon him to devour him. No history 
could speak more graphically the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. — 2 he 
(American) Family Christian Almanac for 1855. 



OF FINGER-KINGS. 155 

verecl ; and there is a notion that the owners of these rings 
were ready to act the part of Hannibal : poison them- 
selves rather than become prisoners. 

The Romans were very curious in collecting cases of 
rings, {dactylothecce,) many of which are mentioned as 
being at Rome ; among these was that which Pompey 
the Great took from Mithridates and dedicated to Jupi- 
ter in the Capitol.* 

And Pompey's ring is known. Upon it were engraved 
three trophies, as emblems of his three triumphs over the 
three parts of the world Europe, Asia and Africa, f A 
ring with a trophy cut upon it has helped to victory : 
When Timoleon was laying siege to Calauria, Icetes took 
the opportunity to make an inroad into the territories of 
Syracuse, where he met with considerable booty; and 
having made great havoc, he marched back by Calau- 
ria itself, in contempt of Timoleon and the slender force 
he had with him. Timoleon suffered him to pass ; and 
then followed him with his cavalry and light-armed foot. 
When Icetes saw he was pursued, he crossed the Damy- 
rias and stood in a posture to receive the enemy, on the 
other side. What emboldened him to do this w r as the 
difficulty of the passage and the steepness of the banks 
on both sides. But a strange dispute and jealousy of 
honor which arose among the officers of Timoleon awhile 
delayed the combat: for there was not one that was 
willing to go after another, but every man wanted to be 
foremost in the attack ; so that their fording was likely 
to be very tumultuous and disorderly by their jostling 
each other and pressing to get before. To remedy this, 

* Fuss's Boman Antiquities, § 435. 

t Adams 1 Koman Antiquities, 366, (Boyd's edit.) 



156 HISTORY AND POETEY 

Timoleon ordered them to decide the matter by lot ; and 
that each, for this purpose, should give him his ring. 
lie took the rings and shook them in the skirt of his 
robe ; and the first that came up happening to have a 
trophy for the seal, the young officers received it with 
joy and, crying out that they would riot wait for any 
other lot, made their way as fast as possible through the 
river and fell upon the enemy, who, unable to sustain 
the shock, soon took to flight, throwing away their arms 
and leaving a thousand of their men dead upon the spot.* 

Csesar's rins; bore an armed Yenus. On that of An- 
gustus there was, first, a sphinx ; afterwards, the image 
of Alexander the Great ; and at last, his own, which the 
succeeding emperors continued to use. Dr. Clarke says, 
the introduction of sculptured animals upon the signets 
of the Romans was derived from the sacred symbols of 
the Egyptians and hence the origin of the sphinx for the 
signet of Augustus. 

Zero's signet-ring bore Apollo, flaying Marsyas. This 
emperor's musical vanity led him to adopt it. 

§ 3. "When the practice of deifying princes and vene- 
rating heroes became general, portraits of men supplied 
the place of more ancient types. This custom gave birth 
to the cameo ; not, perhaps, introduced before the Roman 
power and rarely found in Greece. 

§ 4. In the British Museum is an enamelled gold ring 
of Ethelwoulf, King of "Wessex, second King of England, 
A. D. 836, 838. It bears his name.f 

* Plutarch's Tlmoleov . 

t Introduction to English. Antiquities, "by Eccleston, GO, CI. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 157 

The tradition of Madoc, one of the last princes of 
Fowis, is kept up by the discovery of a gold signet-ring, 
with the impress of a monogram placed under a crown. 
It is supposed to be the ring of Madoc. 

The ring of Edward the Confessor has been discovered ; 
and is said to be in the possession of Charles Kean the 
actor and that lie wears it whenever he plays the cha- 
racter of King Lear. This performer is a collector of 
antiquities. He purchased the red hat of Cardinal Wol- 
sey at the sale of the Strawberry Hill collection. This 
hat was found by Bishop Burnet, when Clerk of the 
Closet, in the great wardrobe and was given by his son, 
the Judge, to the Countess Dowager of Albemarle, who 
presented it to Horace "Walpole. 

King John of England is reputed to have secured a 
ring to aid his designs upon the beautiful wife of the 
brave Eustace de Yesci, one of the twenty-five barons 
appointed to enforce the observance of Magna Charta.* 
The tyrant, hearing that Eustace de Yesci had a very 
beautiful wife, but far distant from court and studying 
how to accomplish his licentious designs towards her, 
sitting at table with her husband and seeing; a ririff on 
his finger, he laid hold on it and told him that he had 
such another stone, which he resolved to set in gold in 
that very form. And having thus got the ring, presently 
sent it to her, in her husband's name ; by that token con- 
juring her, if ever she expected to see him alive, to come 
speedily to him. She, therefore, upon sight of the ring, 
gave credit to the messenger and came with all expedi- 
tion. But so it happened that her husband, casually 
riding out, met her on the road and marvelling much to 

* Duo-dale. 



158 HISTORY AND POETRY 

see her there, asked what the matter was ? and when he 
understood how they were both deluded, resolved to find 
a wanton and put her in apparel to personate his lady. 
The king afterwards boasting to the injured husband 
himself, Eustace had the pleasure to undeceive him. We 
may imagine the cheated monarch's rage and how freely 
he used his favorite oath of, " by the teeth of God !" 

Lord L'Isle, of the time of Henry VIII. of England, 
had been committed to the Tower of London on suspicion 
of being privy to a plot to deliver up the garrison of 
Calais to the French. But his innocence appearing 
manifest on investigation, the monarch released and sent 
him a diamond ring with a most gracious message. 
Whether it was his liberty or the ring or the message, 
the fact is that he died the night following " of excessive 

joy-"* 

The turquoise was valuable enough for princely gift. 
Anne of Brittany, young and beautiful, Queen of Louis 
the Twelfth of France, sent a turquoise ring to James the 
Fourth of Scotland, who fell at Flodclen. Scott refers 
to it: 

" For the fair Queen of France 
Sent him a turquoise ring and glove ; 
And charged him, as her knight and love, 
For her to break a lance." 

And, in a note, he says that a turquoise ring, " probably 
this fatal gift," is (with James's sword and dagger) pre- 
served in the College of Heralds, London ; and gives the 
following quotation from Pittscottie : " Also, the Queen 
of France wrote a love-letter to the King of Scotland, 
calling him her love, showing him that she had suffered 

* Burke's Extinct Peerage, "Plantagcnet Viscount L'Isle," 432. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 159 

much, rebuke in France for the defending of her honor. 
She believed surely that he would recompense her again 
with some of his kingly support in her necessity, that is 
to say, that he would raise her an army and come three 
foot of ground, on English ground, for her sake. To that 
effect she sent him a ring off her finger, with fourteen 
hundred French crowns to pay his expenses." 

Some of the trials of life which Richard Bertie and his 
wife Catharine, Duchess of Suffolk, underwent,* are mat- 
ters of history. They arose from the zeal of the Duchess 
for the Reformation in the reign of Edward VI. and 
through the malice of Bishop Gardiner. The lady had in 
her " progress" caused a dog in a rochet (part of a bishop's 
dress) to be carried and called by Gardiner's name. They 
had an only son Peregrine Bertie, who claimed and ob- 
tained the Barony of Willoughby of Eresby. He was 
sent as general of auxiliaries into France ; and did good 
service at the siege of Paris and by the reduction of 
many towns. His troops were disbanded with great 
commendation ; and Lord "Willoughby received a pre- 
sent of a diamond ring from the King of France. f This 
ring he, at his death, left his son, with a charge, upon 
his blessing, to transmit it to his heirs. Queen Elizabeth 
wrote a free letter inviting him back to England, begin- 
ning it, " Good Peregrine." His will is a remarkable 
one. It begins thus : " In the name of the blessed divine 
Trynitie in persons and of Omnipotent Unity e in God- 
head, who created, redeemed and sanctified me, whom 
I steadfastlye beleeve will glorifye this sinfull, corrupty- 
ble and fleshely bodie, with eternal happiness by a joye- 
ful resurrection at the general Judgment, when by his 

* Hollingslied ; Dugclale. t Echarcl, 3G3. 



160 HISTORY AND POETRY 

incomprehensible justice andmercye, having satisfied for 
my sinfull soule, and stored it uppe in his 'heavenly e trea- 
sure, his almightye voyce shall call all fleshe to be joyned 
together with the soule to everlasting comforte or discom- 
forte. In that holye name I Pergrin Bertye," etc., etc., 
etc. He was once confined to his bed with the gout 
and had an insulting challenge sent him, to which he 
answered, " That although he was lame of his hands and 
feet, yet he would meet his adversary with a piece of a 
rapier in his teeth." His idea of a "carpet knight" is 
observable in his saying, that " a court became a soldier 
of good skill and great spirit as a bed of down would one 
of the Tower lions." 

Pichard Boyle, who, by personal merit, obtained a 
high position and is known as the " great Earl of Cork," 
did not forget his early life. When he was in the 
height of his prosperity, he committed the most memora- 
ble circumstances of his life to writing, under the title of 
"True Remembrances;" and we find the mention of a 
ring which his mother had given him : " "When first I 
arrived in Ireland, the 23d of June, 1588, all my wealth 
then was twenty-seven pounds three shillings in money 
and two tokens which my mother had given me, viz. a 
diamond ring, which I have ever since and still do 
wear, and a bracelet of gold worth about ten pounds ; a 
taffety doublet cut with and upon taffety ; a pair of black 
silk breeches laced ; a new Milan fustian suit laced and 
cut upon taffety, two cloaks, competent linen and neces- 
saries, with my rapier and dagger ; and, since, the bless- 
ing of God, whose heavenly providence guided me 
hither, hath enriched my weak estate in the beginning 
with such a fortune as I need not envy any of my neigh- 



OF FIJfGEE-EINGS. 161 

bors, and added no care or burthen to my conscience 
thereunto."* 

_We have mentioned Shakspeare's signet-ring. It is 
of gold and was found on the sixteenth day of March 
in the year one thousand eight hundred and ten, by a 
laborer's wife upon the surface of the mill-close, adjoin- 
ing Stratford churchyard. The weight is twelve penny- 
weights ; it bears the initials W. S. ; and was purchased 
by Mr. H. B. Wheeler (who has published a Guide to 
Stratford-upon-Avonf) for thirty-six shillings, the cur- 
rent value of the gold. It is evidently a gentleman's ring 
of the time of Elizabeth ; and the crossing of the central 
lines of the W. with the oblique direction of the lines of 
the S. exactly agree with the character of that clay. 
There is a connection or union of the letters by an orna- 
mental string and tassels, known commonly as a " true 
lover's knot " — the upper bow or flourish of which forms 
the resemblance of a heart. On the porch of Charlcote 
House near Stratford, erected in the early part of Eliza- 
beth's reign by the very Sir Thomas Lucy said to have 
persecuted Shakspeare for deer stealing, the letters T. L. 
are surrounded in a manner precisely similar. Allowing 
that this was Shakspeare's ring, it is the only existing 
article which originally belonged to him. 

Singularly enough, a man named William Shak- 
speare was at work near the spot when this ring was 
picked up4 Little doubt can be entertained that it 
belonged to the poet and is probably the one he lost 
before his death and was not to be found when his will 

* Biograpliia Britannica, art. Boyle. 

1 1S14; and see Notes and Queries, v. 589. 

% Halliwell's Life of Shakspeare, 834. 



162 II I S T O E Y AND POETEY 

was executed, the word hand being substituted for scale 
in the original copy of that document. The only other 
person at Stratford having the same initials and likely 
to possess such a seal was William Smith, but he used 
one having a different device, as may be seen from 
several indentures preserved amongst the records of the 
corporation. Halliwell believes in the authenticity of 
this relic. Mr. Wheeler, its owner, says : " Though I 
purchased it upon the same day for 36s. (the current 
value of the gold) the woman had sufficient time to de- 
stroy the precious aerugo, by having it unnecessarily im- 
mersed in aquafortis, to ascertain and prove the metal, 
at a silversmith's shop, which consequently restored its 
original color." 

In the Life of Haydon the painter,* we have the fol- 
lowing letter from him to Keats, (March 1, 1818 :) "My 
dear Keats, I shall go mad ! In a field at Stratford-upon- 
Avon, that belonged to Shakspeare, they have found a 
gold ring and seal, with the initials W. S. and a true 
lover's knot between. If this is not Shakspeare's, whose 
is it ? — a true lover's knot! I saw an impression to-day, 
and am to have one as soon as possible : as sure as you 
breathe and that he was the first of beings, the seal 
belonged to him. 

" 6" Lord ! B. E. Haydon." 

Let us now turn to the ring that Queen Elizabeth gave 
to the handsome, brave and open-hearted Devereux, Earl 
of Essex ; and which was probably worn by him, when, 
on his trial, he was desired to hold up his right hand, 
and he said that he had, before that time, done it often 
at her majesty's command for a better purpose. The 

* Part i. p. 340, (Harper's edit.) 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 163 

story of this ring has been discarded by some authors ; 
but we see no reason to doubt it. We take our account 
from Francis Osborn's Traditional Memoirs on the Reign 
of Queen Elizabeth."* " Upon this,'' says he, "with a 
great deal of familiarity, she presented a ring to him, 
which after she had, by oaths, endued with a power of 
freeing him from any danger or distress, his future mis- 
carriage, her anger or enemies' malice could cast him 
into, she gave it him, with a promise that, at the first 
«ight of it, all this and more, if possible, should be 
granted. After his commitment to the Tower, he sent 
this jewel to her majesty by the then Countess of Not- 
tingham, whom Sir Robert Cecill kept from delivering 
it. But the Lady of Nottingham, coming to her death- 
bed and finding by the daily sorrow the Queen ex- 
pressed for the loss of Essex, herself a principal agent 
in his destruction, could not be at rest till she had dis- 
covered all and humbly implorecl mercy from God and 
forgiveness from her earthly sovereign ; who did not 
only refuse to give it, but having shook her as she lay 
in bed, sent her, accompanied with most fearful curses, 
to a higher tribunal." This reads like truth ; and what 
a picture it presents ! Mark the fury of such an over- 
bearing, half-masculine Queen ; and, the repentant pas- 
siveness of the dying Countess ! 

Dr. Birch, in his Memoirs, says : the Queen observed, 
" God may forgive you, but I never can." 

¥e are inclined to believe that Elizabeth swore pretty 
roundly on this occasion, as it is known she could ; and 



* P. 92. And see Johnson's Life of Coke, p. 147 ; Hume, Horace Wal- 
pole. The ring is said to he retained in the family of the Countess of 2s ot- 
tinoham. 



104r HISTORY AND POETRY 

that there was a violence on the occasion is even shown 
by Dr. Birch : he says— " The Countess of Nottingham, 
affected by the near approach of death, obtained a visit 
from the Queen, to whom she revealed the secret ; that 
the Queen shook the dying lady in her bed, and thence- 
forth resigned herself to the deepest melancholy." 

The melancholy continued ; and this haughty woman 
was soon smitten ; refusing to rest on a bed, from a super- 
stition that it would be her death couch, she became 
almost a silent lunatic, and crouched upon the floor. There 
sat she, as did another queen, who cried — 

" Here I and sorrow sit, 
Here is my throne ;" 

neither rising nor lying down, her finger almost always 
in her mouth, her eyes open and fixed on the ground.* 
But her indomitable will did not leave her in her death 
hour. She had declared she would have no rascal to 
succeed her ; and when she was too far gone to speak, 
Secretary Cecil besought her, if she would have the 
King of Scots to reign after her, to show some sign unto 
them. Whereat, suddenly heaving herself up, she held 
both her hands joined together, over her head, in manner 
of a crown. Then, she sank down, and dozed into an- 
other world. 

The Chevalier Louis Aubery de Maurier, who was 
many years the French Minister in Holland, and said 
to have been a man of great parts and unsuspected ve- 
racity, gives the following story of the Essex ring :| 

* Pictorial History of England, ii. 693. 

tllistoire de Hollande, 215, 216; and also sec the Biograpliia Britonmca, 
vol. 5, art. Devereux. 



OF FINGER -KINGS. 165 

" It will not, I believe, be thought either impertinent 
or disagreeable to add here what Prince Maurice had 
from the mouth of Mr. Carleton, Ambassador from Eng- 
land in Holland, who died Secretary of State, so well 
known under the name of my Lord Dorchester and who 
was a man of great merit. He said that Queen Eliza- 
beth gave the Earl of Essex a ring in the height of her 
passion for him, ordering him to keep it, and that what- 
ever he should commit she would pardon him when he 
should return that pledge. Since that time, the Earl's 
enemies having prevailed with the Queen, who besides 
was exasperated against him for the contempt he showed 
for her beauty, which, through age, began to decay, she 
caused him to be impeached. When he was condemned, 
she expected that he should send her the ring ; and 
would have granted him his pardon according to her 
promise. The Earl finding himself in the last extremity, 
applied to Admiral Howard's lady, who was his relation, 
and desired her, by a person whom she could trust, to 
return the ring into the Queen's own hands. But her 
husband, who was one of the Earl's greatest enemies and 
to whom she told this imprudently, would not suffer her 
to acquit herself of the commission ; so that the Queen 
consented to the Earl's death, being full of indignation 
against such a proud and haughty spirit who chose rather 
to die than to implore her mercy. Some time after, the 
Admiral's lady fell sick and being given over by her 
physicians, she sent word to the Queen that she had 
something of great consequence to tell her before she 
died. The Queen came to her bedside, and having or- 
dered all the attendants to withdraw, the Admiral's lady 
returned her, but too late, that ring from the Earl of 



166 HISTORY AND POETRY 

Essex, desiring to be excused that she did not return it 
sooner, having been prevented doing it by her husband. 
The Queen retired immediately, being overwhelmed 
with the utmost grief; she sighed continually for a fort- 
night following, without taking any nourishment ; lying 
abed entirely dressed and getting up an hundred times 
a night. At last she died with hunger and with grief, 
because she had consented to the death of a lover who 
had applied to her for mercy. This melancholy adven- 
ture shows that there are frequent transitions from one 
passion to another and that as love often changes to hate, 
so hate, giving place sometimes to pity, brings the mind 
back again into its first state." Sir Dudley Carleton, who 
is made the author of this story, was a man who deserved 
the character that is given of him and could not but be 
well informed of what had passed at court. The Count- 
ess of Nottingham was the daughter of the Lord Vis- 
count Hunsdon, related to the Queen and also, by his 
mother, to the Earl of Essex. 

The story of the ring and the relations of the Queen's 
passion for the Earl of Essex w T ere long regarded by 
many writers as romantic circumstances. But these facts 
are now more generally believed. Hume, Birch and other 
judicious historians give credit to them. Dr. Birch has 
confirmed Maurice's account by the following narrative, 
which was often related by the Lady Elizabeth Spelman, 
a descendant of Sir Robert Cary, Earl of Monmouth, 
whose acquaintance with the most secret transactions of 
Queen Elizabeth's court is well known :* 

"When Catharine, Countess of Nottingham, wife of 
the Lord High Admiral and sister of the Earl of Mon- 

* Biographia Britannica, art. Devereux. 



OF FINGEE-KINGS. 167 

"mouth, was dying, (as she did, according to his Lord- 
ship's own account, about a fortnight before the Queen,) 
she sent to her majesty, to desire that she might see her 
in order to reveal something to her majesty, without the 
discovery of which she could not die in peace. Upon 
the Queen's coming, Lady Nottingham told her that, 
while the Earl of Essex lay under sentence of death, he 
was desirous of asking her majesty's mercy, in the man- 
ner prescribed by herself, during the height of his favor : 
the Queen having given him a ring which, being sent to 
her as a token of his distress, might entitle him to her 
protection. But the Earl, jealous of those about him 
and not caring to trust any one with it, as he was look- 
ing out of the window one morning, saw a boy, with 
whose appearance he was pleased, and, engaging him, 
by money and promises, directed him to carry the ring, 
which he took from his finger and threw down, to Lady 
Scroope, a sister of the Countess of Nottingham and a 
friend of his lordship, who attended upon the Queen 
and to beg of her that she would present it to her ma- 
jesty. The boy, by mistake, carried it to Lady Notting- 
ham, who showed it to her husband, the Admiral, an 
enemy of Lord Essex, in order to take his advice. The 
Admiral forbid her to carry it or return any answer to 
the message ; but insisted upon her keeping the ring. 

" The Countess of Nottingham having made the dis- 
covery, begged the Queen's forgiveness, but her majesty 
answered, ' God may forgive you, but I never can ;' 
and left the room with great emotion. Her mind was 
so struck with this story that she never went to bed, nor 
took any subsistence, from that instant : for Camden is 
of opinion that her chief reason for suffering the Earl 



168 1IISTOKY AND POETRY 

to be executed was liis supposed obstinancy in not ap- 
plying to lier for mercy." 

Miss Strickland considers that the story of this ring 
should not be lightly rejected. 

There are two rings extant claiming to be the identical 
one so fatally retained by Lady Nottingham. The first 
is preserved at Llawnes, Bedfordshire, England and is 
the property of the Reverend Lord John Thynne. The 
ring is gold, the sides are engraved and the inside set 
with blue enamel ; the stone is a sardonyx, on which is 
cut, in relief, a head of Elizabeth, the execution being 
of a high order. The second is the property of a Mr. 
Warner, and was given by Charles the First to Sir 
Thomas Warner, the settler of Antigua, Nevis, etc. It 
is a diamond set in gold, inlaid with black enamel at 
the back and sides. * 

And now let us turn to one of Elizabeth's victims, who 
had her talent and was her contrast : for Mary of Scotland 
was womanly and beautiful. So charming was she in 
the mind of the French poet Ronsard that he tells us 
France without her was as " a ring bereft of its precious 
pearl."f The nuptial ring of Mary, Queen of Scots, on 
her marriage with Lord Darnley, is extant,^: It is, in 
general design, a copy of her great seal, the banners 
only being different, for, in the great seal they each bear 
a saltier surmounted by a crown. (In her great seal 
made when Dowager of France, after the death of Fran- 
cis the Second, the dexter banner is St. Andrew's Cross, 

* Lives and Letters of the Devereux Earls of Essex, by tlie Honorable W. 
B. Devereux. 

+ Strickland's Queens of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 181. 

X Gent's Mag. vol. xxxv. p. 390 ; Arclioeologia, vol. xxxiii. 



OF F I N G E R - R I N G S . 160 

the sinister the Eojal Arms of the Lion.) The ring part 
is enamelled. It is of most beautiful and minute work- 
manship. An impression is not larger than a small 
wafer. It has the initials M. E. ; and on the interior is 
a monogram of the letters M. and A., Mary and Albany : 
Darnley was created Duke of Albany. 

A use of the arms of England by Mary came to the 
knowledge of and gave great offence to Elizabeth and 
Burghley ; and the latter obtained a copy of them so 
used, which copy is now in the British Museum. It is 
endorsed by Burghley, "False Amies of Scotl. Fr. Engl. 
Julii, 1559." The following doggrel lines are under- 
neath the arms : 

" The armes of Marie Quene Dolphines of France 
The nobillist Ladie in earth for till aduance, 
Off Scotland Quene, and of England also, 
Off Ireland als God haith providit so." 

A letter has been discovered in the handwriting of 
Mary herself which presents the monogram of M. and 
A. that is upon the ring. This epistle is in French ; and 
the following is a translation : 

" Madam, my good sister, the wish that I have to omit 
nothing that could testify to you how much I desire not 
to be distant from your good favor, or to give you oc- 
casion to suspect me from my actions to be less attached 
to you than, my good sister, I am, does not permit me 
to defer longer the sending to you the bearer, Master of 
my Bequests, to inform you farther of my good will to 
embrace all means which are reasonable, not to give 
you occasion to be to me other than you have been 
hitherto ; and relying on the sufficiency of the bearer, I 
will kiss your hands, praying God that he will keep you, 

8 



170 HISTORY AND POETRY 

Madam my good sister, in health and a happy and long 
life. From St. John's Town, this 15th of June. 

" Your very affectionate and faithful 

" Good Sister and Consin, 
" To the Queen of England, " Marie K." 

" Madam my good Sister 
" and Cousin." 

The history of the ring bearing the arms of England, 
Scotland and Ireland, (and which is said to have been 
produced in evidence at the trial of the unfortunate 
Mary as a proof of her pretensions to the crown of Eng- 
land,^ is curious. It descended from Mary to her grand- 
son Charles the First, who gave it on the scaffold to 
Archbishop Juxon for his son Charles the Second, who, 
in his troubles, pawned it in Holland for three hundred 
pounds, where it was bought by Governor Yale ; and 
sold at his sale for three hundred and twenty dollars, 
supposed to the Pretender. Afterwards it came into the 
possession of the Earl of Hay, Duke of Argyll. It was 
ultimately purchased by George the Fourth of England, 
when he was Prince Regent* This is sometimes called 
the Juxon ring. 

It appears by Andrews's continuation of Henry's His- 
tory of Great Britain,f that Mary had three wedding 
rings on her marriage with Darnley : " She had on her 
back the great mourning gown of black, with the great 
mourning hood," (fit robes for such a wedding !) " The 
rings, which were three, the middle a rich diamond, were 
put on her finger. They kneel together and many prayers 

* Willis's Current Notes for February and March, 1S52. 
t P. 184, (note.) 



OF FINGER- RINGS. 171 

are said over them," etc., etc. Kings of Mary of Mociena 
have been mistaken for those of Mary of Scotland. 

There is a ring at Bolsover Castle containing a por- 
trait of Mary.* 

A word more of Elizabeth and Mary. Aubrey says,f 
"I have seen some rings made for sweethearts, with a 
heart enamelled held between two right hands. See an 
epigram of George Buchanan on two rings that were 
made by Elizabeth's appointment, being layd one upon 
the other showed the like figure. The heart was two 
diamonds, which joyned, made the heart. Queen Eliza- 
beth kept one moietie, and sent the other as a token of 
her constant friendship to Mary, Queen of Scots ; but 
she cut off her head for all that." Aubrey, who also 
quotes an old verse as to the wearers of rings : Miles, 
mercator, stultus, maritus, amator, — here alludes, it is 
presumed, to a diamond ring originally given by Eliza- 
beth to Mary as a pledge of affection and support and 
which Mary commissioned Beatoun to take back to her 
when she determined to seek an asylum in England. 
The following is one of Buchanan's epigrams on the 
subject of the ring, described by Aubrey: 

"Loquitur adamas in cordis effigiem scidptus, quern 
Maria Elizabethw Angl.misit :" (The diamond sculptured 
into the form of a heart and which Mary sent to the 
English Elizabeth, says :) 

" Quod te jampridem videt, ac amat absens, 
Hcec pignus cordis gemma, et imago mei est, 
Non est candidior non est hcec purior Mo 
Quamvis dura magis non image jirma tamen." 

* Gent.'s Mag. for 1852, p. 407. 

t Anecdotes and Traditions, published by the Camden Society, (London, 
1839.) 



172 HIS T O IS Y AND P O E T R Y 

These lines we thus render in verse : 

" This gem is pledge and image of my heart : 

A heart that looks and loves, though not in view. 
The jewel has no clearer, purer part — 
It may be harder, but is not more true." 

The sentiment in this epigram must have been ga- 
thered from expressions made by Mary herself: for, at a 
time when she was at Dumferline and desired and hoped 
for an interview with Elizabeth, she received, through 
the hands of Randolph, a letter from the English Queen, 
" which first she did read and after put into her bosom 
next unto her schyve" Mary entered into a long private 
conversation with Randolph on the subject of their pro- 
posed interview ; and asked him, in confidence, to tell 
her frankly whether it were ever likely to take effect. 
" Above any thing," said she, " I desire to see my good 
sister; and next, that we may live like good sisters. 
together, as your mistress hath written unto me that 
we shall. I have here," continued she, " a ring with a 
diamond fashioned like a heart : I know nothing that 
can resemble my good will unto my good sister better 
than that. My meaning shall be expressed by writing 
in a few verses, which you shall see before you depart ; 
and whatsomever lacketh therein, let it be reported by 
your writing. I will witness the same with my own 
hand, and call God to record that I speak as I think with 
my heart, that I do as much rejoice of that continuance 
of friendship that I trust shall be between the queen my 
sister and me and the people of both realms, as ever I 
did in any thing in my life." " With these words," con- 
tinues Randolph, " she taketh out of her bosom the 
Queen's Majesty's letter; and after that she had read a 



OF FINGER-KINGS. 



173 



line or two thereof, puttetli it again in the same place, 
and saith, ' If I could put it nearer my heart I would.' "* 
Mary's sad going to England, makes us remember 
"Wordsworth's sonnet : 

" ; but Time, the old Saturnian seer, 



Sighed on the wing as her foot pressed the strand, 
With step prelusive to a long array 
Of woes and degradations, hand in hand, 
Weeping Captivity and shuddering Fear, 
Stilled by the ensanguined block of Fotheringay !" 

hi the British Museum is a rinsr which belonged to 
one whose life had been a tissue of cowardice, cruelty, 
falsehood and weakness, Lord Darnley. If this was 





Original size. 



a ring he ordinarily wore, it probably was upon his 
finger when he led the w T ay to the murder of Eiccio and 
pointed him out to the slayers. However this may be, 
the story goes that when Darnley was reconciled to 
Mary and w r as in the house called Kirk of Field, she, 
one evening, on taking leave in order to attend a mar- 
riage of a servant, embraced him tenderly ; took a ring 
from her linger and placed it upon his. It was on this 
night that a terrific explosion was heard, which shook 
the city of Edinburgh. Then it was that the Kirk of 



Strickland's Queens of Scotland, iii. 279. 



1 74 HISTORY AND POETRY 

Field was blown up ; and at a little distance, in the gar- 
den, were the dead bodies of Darnley and his page. We 
are not of those who believe that Mary's hand or heart 
were in this murder, notwithstanding we read of the 
vote of the Scotch Parliament and peruse Buchanan's 
suggested letters from the Queen to Bothwell — espe- 
cially as these epistles are not forthcoming. It has been 
said that Buchanan expressed sorrow on his death-bed 
for what he had written against Mary. But he cer- 
tainly was not a repentant. We have a proof of his in- 
domitable disposition in the fact that when, at his dying 
hour, he was informed that the King was highly incensed 
against him for writing his books De Jure Megni and 
History of Scotland, he replied, " he was not much con- 
cerned about that, for he was shortly going to a place 
where there were few kings. "* Writers who show no 
esteem for Buchanan give him the character of an in- 
veterate drinker even up to his death hour ; he, " con- 
tinuing his debauches of the belly, made shift to get the 
dropsy by immoderate drinking," and it was said of 
him, byway of jest, that he was troubled vino inter cute 
and not aqua inter cute (by wine between the skin and 
not water between the sJciri).\ 

There is a ring known in English history as the Blue 
Ring.% King James the First kept a constant corre- 
spondence with several persons of the English court for 
many years prior to Queen Elizabeth's decease ; among 
others with Lady Scroope, sister of Robert Carey, after- 
wards Earl of Monmouth, to which lady his majesty 
sent, by Sir James Fullerton, a sapphire ring, with posi- 

* Mackenzie's Lives and Characters. f Father Garvasse. 

% Burke's Extinct Peerages, " Carey," 111. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 175 

tive orders to return it to him, by a special messenger, 
as soon as the Queen actually expired. Lady Scroope 
had no opportunity of delivering it to her brother Robert 
while he was in the palace of Richmond ; but waiting 
at the window till she saw him at the outside of the 
gate, she threw it out to him and he well knew to what 
purpose he received it. Indeed, he was the first person 
to announce to James his accession to the crown of Eno> 
land ; and the monarch said to him : "I know you have 
lost a near kinswoman and a mistress, but take here my 
hand, I will be a good master to you and will requite 
this service with honor and reward." This Robert Carey 
wrote his own memoirs ; and therein says : " I only re- 
lied on God and the King. The one never left me ; the 
other, shortly after his coming to London, deceived my 
expectations and adhered to those who sought my ruin." 
Thomas Sackvil, Duke of Dorset, who was Lord High 
Treasurer of England in the times of Elizabeth and 
James L, has left a remarkably long and curious will, 
which shows exceeding wealth and a mixture of seem- 
ing humility, obsequious loyalty and pride of position. 
His riches appear to have mainly come from his father, 
who was called by the people Fill-Sack, on account of 
his vast property. A great number of personal ornaments 
are bequeathed ; and among them many rings, which are 
particularly described. He often and especially notices* 
" one ring of gold and enamelled black and set round 
with diamonds, to the number of 20., whereof 5. being 
placed in the upper part of the said ring do represent 
the fashion of a cross." This ring is coupled with " one 
picture of the late famous Queen Elizabeth, being cut 

* Collins's Baronage, 421, (4to.) 



176 HISTORY AND POETET 

out of an agate, with excellent similitude, oval fashion 
and set in gold, with 20. rubies about the circle of it and 
one orient pearl pendant to the same ; one ring of gold, 
enamelled black, wherein is set a great table diamonde, 
beying perfect and pure and of much worth ; and one 
cheyne of gold, Spanish work, containing in it 48. several 
pieces of gold, of divers sorts, enamelled white and of 
46. oval links of gold, likewise enamelled white, wherein 
are 144. diamonds." These rings, chain and picture are 
to remain as heirlooms ; while particular directions are 
given to place them in the custody of the warden and 
a senior fellow of New College at Oxford during minority 
of his descendants, to be kept within the said college 
" in a strong chest of iron, under two several keys," etc. 
The testator states how the "said rynge of gould, with the 
great table diamonde sett therein togeather with the said 
cheyne of goulde, were given to him by the Kinge of 
Spayne ;" while the way in which he obtained the ring 
set round with twenty diamonds is thus elaborated in 
the will : " And to the intent that they may knowe howe 
just and great cause bothe they and I have to houlcl the 
sayeel Rynge, with twentie Diamonds, in so heighe es- 
teeme, yt is most requisite that I do here set downe the 
whole course and circumstance howe and from whome 
the same rynge did come to my possession, which was 
thus : In the Begynning of the monethe of June one 
thousand sixe hundred and seaven, this rynge thus sett 
with twenty Diamondes, as is aforesayed,was sent unto 
me from my most gracious soveraigne King James, by 
that honorable personage the Lord Haye, one of the 
gentlemen of his Ilighnes Bedchamber, the Courte then 
beying at "Whitehall in London and I at that tyme re- 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 177 

mayning at Horsley House in Surrey, twenties myles 
from London, where I laye in suclie extremitye of sick- 
ness as yt was a common and a constant reporte all over 
London that I was dead and the same confidentlie affirmed 
even unto theKinge's Highnes hymselfe ; upon which oc- 
casion it pleased his most excellent majestie, in token of 
his gracious goodness and great favour towards me, to 
send the saied Lord Hay with the saied Binge, and this 
Royal message unto me, namelie, that his Highness 
wished a speedie and a perfect recoverye of my healthe, 
with all happie and good successe unto me and that I 
might live as longe as the diamonds of that Bynge 
(which therewithall he delivered unto me) did indure, 
and, in token thereof, required me to weare yt and keep 
y t for his sake. This most gracious and comfortable mes- 
sage restored a new Life unto me, as coming from so re- 
nowned and benigne a soveraigne," — but enough of this 
fulsome praise of the coward King of Holyrood. It 
makes us think of Sir Bichie Moniplie's scene : " But 
my certie, lad, times are changed since ye came fleeing 
down the back stairs of auld Holyrood House, in grit 
fear, having your breeks in your hand, without time to 
put them on, and Frank Stewart, the wild Earl of Both- 
well, hard at your haunches ; and if auld Lord Glen- 
warloch hadna cast his mantle about his arm and taken 
bluidy wounds mair than ane in your behalf, you wald 
not have crawecl sae crouse this day." 

There is a ring in the Isle of Wight, shown as having 
belonged to Charles the First of England ; and the fol- 
lowing story is told of it.* When Charles was confined 

* Hillier's Narrative of the attempted escape of Charles tlic First, etc., p. 
79. And see Gentleman's Magazine, N. S., p. 28. 

8* 



178 HISTORY AND POETRY 

in Carisbrook Castle, a man named Howe was its master 
gunner. He had a son, a little boy, who was a great 
favorite of Charles. One day, seeing him with a child's 
sword by his side, the King asked him what he intended 
doing with it? "To defend your Majesty from your 
Majesty's enemies," was the reply ; an answer which so 
pleased the King that he gave the child the signet-ring 
he was in the habit of wearing upon his finger. 

An engraving of the ring has been published. The 
article itself is in the possession of a descendant of Howe's. 
It is marked inside with the letters A and T conjoined 
followed by E. The author cannot trace or couple these 
letters with Charles the First ; and he is otherwise in- 
clined to doubt the story. It is a tale to please loyal 
readers. Charles was an intelligent man ; and he was not 
likely, especially under his then circumstances, to have 
given his signet-ring to a child. There is a very pretty 
incident connected with his passing to prison, where he 
might beautifully have left a ring with a true-hearted 
lady. As he passed through Newport, on the way to 
the Castle of Carisbrook, the autumn weather was most 
bitter. A gentlewoman, touched by his misfortunes and 
his sorrows, presented him with a damask rose, which 
grew in her garden at that cold season of the year aacl 
prayed for him. The mournful monarch received the 
lady's gift, heartily thanked her and passed on to his 
dungeon. 

It is true that Charles, when in the Isle of Wight, 
gave a ring from his finger. But the receiver of it was 
Sir Philip Warwick. This ring bore a figure cut in an 
onyx ; and was handed to Sir Philip in order to seal the 
letters written for the King by that knight at the time 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 170 

of the treaty. This ring was left by Sir Philip to Sir 
Charles Cotterell, Master of the Ceremonies, who, in 
his will, (16th April, 1701,) bequeathed it to Sir Stephen 
Fox. It came into the possession of the latter's descen- 
dant, the late Earl of Ilchester and was stolen from his 
house in old Burlington street, London, about seventy 
years ago.* 

Just before his execution, the same monarch caused a 
limited number of mourning rings to be prepared. 
Burke, in his Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, 
mentions the family of Rogers in Lota. This family 
was early remarkable for its loyalty and attachment to 
the crown. A ring is still preserved as an heirloom, 
which was presented to its ancestor by King Charles 
the First during his misfortunes. Robert Rogers of Lota 
received extensive grants from Charles the Second. In 
the body of his will is the following: " And I also be- 
queathe to ISToblett Rogers the miniature portrait ring 
of the martyr Charles I. given by that monarch to my 
ancestor previous to his execution ; and I particularly 
desire that it may be preserved in the name and family." 
The miniature is said to be by Vandyke. 

The present possessor of this ring says that when it was 
shown in Rome, it was much admired ; the artists when 
questioned, " Whose style?" frequently answered, "Van- 
dyke's."f Although many doubt whether Vandyke ever 
submitted to paint miniatures, yet portraits in enamel 
by him are known to be in existence. 

A ring, said to be one of the seven given after the 
King's death, was possessed by Horace Walpole and 

* Gent.'s Mag., vol. xli. p. 450, and ib. for June, 
t Notes and Queries, vii. 184. 



180 II I S T O E Y AND POET K Y 

sold with the Strawberry Hill collection, It has the 
King's head in miniature and behind, a skull ; while 
between the letters C. R. is this motto : 

" Prepared be to follow me" 

There is another of these rings (all of which may be 
considered as " stamped with an eternal grief") in the pos- 
session of a clergyman. The shank of the ring is of fine 
gold, enamelled black, but the greater part of the enamel 
has been worn away by use. On the inner side of the 
shank an inscription has been engraved, the first letter 
of which still remains, but the rest of this also has been 
worn away by much nse. In the shank is set a small 
miniature in enamel of the King, inclosed in a box of 
crystal which opens with a spring. At the back of the 
box, containing the miniature, is a inece of white enamel, 
having a death's head surmounted by a crown with the 
date January 30 represented upon it in black. A me- 
morial ring of Charles the First, which has a portrait 
of the King in enamel and an inscription at the back, 
recording the day of his execution, was exhibited before 
the members of the London Antiquarian Society in 
March, 1854.* 

Kings, with portraits of Charles the First on ivory, are 
not uncommon. 

When the body of Charles the First was discovered 
in 1813, (in the royal burial place at Windsor,) the hair 
at the back of the head appeared close cut ; whereas, at 
the time of the decollation, the executioner twice ad- 
justed the King's hair under his cap. ~No doubt the 
piety of friends had severed the hair after death, in 

* Sec Gcnt.'s Mag., vol. xli. p. 512. 



OF FINGEE-EO.GS, 181 

order to furnish rings and other memorials of the un- 
happy monarch. 

A noble character was James Stanley, seventh Earl of 
Derby, who was beheaded for his loyalty to Charles the 
First. 

As a proof of his bravery, with six hundred horse he 
maintained fight against three thousand foot and horse, 
receiving seven shots in his breast-plate, thirteen cuts in 
his beaver, five or six wounds on his arms and shoulders, 
and had two horses killed under him. 

His manliness shows well in his answer to Cromwell's 
demand that he should deliver up the Isle of Wight : a I 
scorn your proffers ; I disdain yoiir favors ; I abhor 
your treasons ; and am so far from delivering this island 
to your advantage, that I will keep it to the utmost of 
my power to your destruction. Take this final answer 
and forbear any further solicitations ; for if you trouble 
me with any more messages upon this occasion, I will 
burn the paper and hang the bearer."* 

He was executed contrary to the promise of quarter 
for life, " an ancient and honorable plea not violated 
until this time." 

There is a deeply interesting account of his acts and 
deportment written by a Mr. Bagaley who attended on 
him. The Earl wrote letters to his wife, daughter and 
sons ; a servant went and purchased all the rings he 
could get and lapped them up in several papers and 
writ within them and the Earl made Bagaley subscribe 
them to all his children and servants. This coupling his 
servants with his children in connection with these death 
tokens is charming. The Earl handed the letters with the 

* Collins's Peerage, v. 68, 5th edit. 



182 HISTORY AND POETRY 

rings to Bagaley and, in relation to delivering them, he 
used this beautiful and perfect expression — " As to them, 
I can say nothing : silence and your own looks will lest 
tell your message." 

On quitting his prison, others confined there kissed 
his hand and wept ; but as to himself, he told them : 
" You shall hear that I die like a Christian, a man and a 
soldier." 

He was to be beheaded at Bolton. On his way thither, 
Bagaley says : " His lordship, as we rode along, called 
me to him and bid me, when I should come into the 
Isle of Man, to commend him to the Archbishop there 
and tell him he well remembered the several discourses 
that had passed between them there concerning death 
and the manner of it ; that he had often said the thoughts 
of death could not trouble him in fight or with a sword 
in hand, but lie feared it would something startle him 
tamely to submit to a blow on the scaffold. But," said 
his lordship, "tell the archdeacon from me that I do 
now find in myself an absolute change as to that opinion." 

At night when he laid him down upon the right side, 
with his hand under his face, he said : " Me thinks I lie 
like a monument in a church ; and to-morrow I shall 
really be so." 

There was a delay in his execution, for the people of 
Bolton refused to strike a nail in the scaffold or to give 
any assistance. He asked for the axe and kissed it. He 
forgave the headsman before he asked him. To the 
spectators, he said : " Good people, I thank you for your 
prayers and for your tears ; I have heard the one and 
seen the other and our God sees and hears both." He 
caused the block to be turned towards the church. " I 



OF FIN6EE-KINGS. 183 

will look," cried he, " towards the sanctuary which is 
above for ever.*' There were other interesting circum- 
stances attending: his execution. "With outstretched 
arms he laid himself down to the block, exclaiming, 
" Blessed be God's name for ever and ever. Let the 
whole earth be filled with his glory." Then the exe- 
cutioner did his work — " and no manner of noise was 
then heard but sighs and sobs." 

We are left without any account of the way in which 
Bagaley delivered the rings ; but, imagination can make 
a picture of a darkened and dismantled mansion, suffer- 
ing widow and children, with terrified retainers, and 
Bagaley standing in the midst, weary, heart-sick, tear- 
fully presenting the melancholy remembrances and 
realizing the truthfulness of the words of his brave, good 
and gentle master : " Silence and your own looks will 
best tell your message." 

The French woman Kerouaille, favorite mistress of 
Charles the Second, and created Duchess of Portsmouth, 
is said to have secured two valuable diamond rings from 
the King's finger while the throes of death were on him. 
The following graphic description is worth reading : 

" I should have told you, in his fits his feet were as 
cold as ice, and were kept rubbed with hot cloths, 
which were difficult to get. Some say the Queen rub- 
bed one and washed it in tears. Pillows were brought 
from the Duchess of Portsmouth's by Mrs. Koche. His 
Highness, the Duke of York, was the first there, and 
then I think the Queen, (he sent for her ;) the Duchess 
of Portsmouth swooned in the chamber, and was carried 
out for air ; Nelly Gwynne roared to a disturbance and 
was led out and lay roaring behind the door ; the Duch- 



184: HISTOEY AND POETEY 

ess wept and returned ; the Princess (afterwards Queen 
Anne) was not admitted, he was so ghastly a sight, (his 
eye-balls were turned that none of the blacks were seen, 
and his mouth drawn up to one eye,) so they feared it 
might affect the child she goes with. None came in at 
the common door, but by an odd side-door to prevent a 
crowd, but enough at convenient times to satisfy all. 
The £rief of the Duchess of Portsmouth did not hinder 
her packing and sending many strong boxes to the French 
ambassador's ; and the second day of the King's sickness, 
the chamber being kept dark — one who comes from the 
light does not see very soon, and much less one who is 
between them and the light there is — so she went to the 
side of the bed, and sat down to and taking the king's 
hand in hers, felt his two great diamond rings ; thinking 
herself alone, and asking him what he did with them on, 
said she would take them off, and did it at the same time, 
and looking up saw the Duke at the other side, stead- 
fastly looking on her, at which she blushed much, and 
held them towards him, and said, 6 Here, sire, will you 
take them?' 'JSTo, madam,' he said, ' they are as safe 
in your hands as mine. I will not touch them till I see 
how things will go.' But since the King's death she has 
forgot to restore them, though he has not that she took 
them, for he told the story." This extract is taken from 
a letter written by a lady who was the wife of a person 
about the court at Whitehall and forms part of a curi- 
ous collection of papers lately discovered, at Dray cot 
House near Chippenham, Wiltshire, England.* 

Jeffreys, the bloody Jeffreys, whose greatest honor 
was to make a martyr of Sidney, while rising in royal 

* Household Words, ix. 277. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 185 

favor and when about to depart for the circuit to give 
the provinces " a lick with the rough side of his tongue,'' 
(a favorite expression of his,) experienced a mark of 
regard from Charles the Second. The King took a ring 
from his own finger and gave it to this besotted wretch 
of a chief justice. At the same time the monarch be- 
stowed on him a curious piece of advice to be given by 
a king to a judge : it was, that, as the weather would be 
hot, Jeffreys should beware of drinking too much.'" 
The people called the ring " Jeffrey's Hood-stone" as he 
got it just after the execution of Sir Thomas Armstrong. 
Roger North says : " The king was persuaded to present 
him with a ring, publicly taken from his own finger, in 
token of his majesty's acceptance of his most eminent 
services ; and this by way of precursor being blazoned 
in the Gazette, his lordship went down into the country, 
as from the king legatus a latere." The Lord Keeper 
North, who, it has been said, hated Jeffreys worse than 
popery,f speaks of the terror to others of the face and 
voice of the chief justice : " as if the thunder of the day 
of judgment broke over their heads ;" and shows how 
Jeffreys, who, by this time, had reached the position of 
Lord Chancellor, was discovered by a lawyer that had 
been under the storm of his countenance \% " There was 
a scrivener, of Trapping brought to hearing for relief 
against a bummery bond ; the contingency of losing all 
being showed, the bill was going to be dismissed. But 
one of the plaintiff's counsel said that he was a strange 
fellow and sometimes went to church, sometimes to con- 
venticles and none could tell what to make of him 

* Burnet ; and see note to Life of Lord Keeper North, vol. ii. p. 13. 
f Knight. % P. S3, et seq. 



186 HISTORY AND POETRY 

and it was thought he was a trimmer. At that the 
Chancellor fired ; and ' A trimmer,' said he, ' I have 
heard much of that monster, but never saw one. Come 
forth, Mr. Trimmer, turn you round, and let us see your 
shape ;' and at that rate talked so long that the j^oor 
fellow was ready to drop under him ; but, at last, the 
bill was dismissed with costs and he went his way. In 
the hall, one of his friends asked him how he came off? 
'Came off!' said he, 'I am escaped from the terrors of 
that man's face, which I would scarce undergo again 
to save my life ; and I shall certainly have the frightful 
impression of it as long as I live.' Afterwards, when 
the Prince of Orange came and all was in confusion, this 
Lord Chancellor, being very obnoxious, disguised himself 
in order to go beyond sea. lie was in a seaman's garb 
and drinking a pot in a cellar. This scrivener came into 
the cellar after some of his clients ; and his eye caught 
thai face, which made him start ; and the Chancellor, 
seeing himself eved, feigned a cough and turned to the 
wall with his pot in his hand. But Mr. Trimmer went 
out and gave notice that he was there ; whereupon the 
mob flowed in and he was in extreme hazard of his life," 
etc., etc. This term " Trimmer" seemed to be very ob- 
noxious to Jeffreys. Once at the council and when the 
king was present, Jeffreys " being naming drunk, came 
up to the other end of the board and (as in that condi- 
tion his way was) fell to talking and staring like a mad- 
man, and, at length, bitterly inveighed against Trimmers 
and told the king that he had Trimmers in his court and 
he would never be easy so long as the Trimmers were 
there."* North gives the interpretation of the word 

* North, 100. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 187 

" Trimmer," winch was taken up to subdivide the Tory 
party, of whom all (however loyal and of the established 
church professed) who did not go into all the lengths of 
the new-flown party at court, were so termed.* 

The name of the great Dundee instantly brings to mind 
one of the most spirited and characteristic ballads ever 
written : 

" The Gordon demands of him which way he goes — 
Where'er shall direct me the shade of Montrose ! 
Your Grace, in short space, shall hear tidings of me : 
Or that low lies the bonnet of Bonny Dundee. 

Come, fill up my cup ; come, fill up my can ; 

Come, saddle the horses and call up the men ; 

Come, open your gates and let me gae free, 

For it's up with the bonnets of Bonny Dundee, "f 

All of this is gone ; low lies Bonny Dundee ; and the 
untruth of what is called history is all we have of 
him. There was a ring of which a description and an 
engraving remain containing some of Lord Dundee's 
hair, with the letters Y. D. surmounted by a coronet 
worked upon it in gold ; and on the inside of the ring 
are engraved a skull and this poesy : 

" Great Dundee, for God and me. J. Rex. v 

* Lord Halifax, who is described by Dry den under the character of " Jo- 
tbam" in Absalom and Achitophel, was at the head of the party called Trim- 
mers ; and in bis " Preface to the Character of a Trimmer" thus explains the 
term: "This innocent word Trimmer signifies no more than this: that if 
men are together in a boat and one part of "the company would weigh it 
down on one side, another would make it lean as much to the contrary, it 
happens that there is a third opinion, of those who conceive it would be as 
well if the boat went even, without endangering the passengers. Now, 'tis 
hard to imagine by what figure in language or by what rule in sense this 
comes to be a fault ; and it is much more a wonder it should be thought a 
heresy." 

t Miss Mitford's Recollections, 425, (Am. edit.) 



188 HISTORY AND POETRY 

This ring, which belonged to the family of Graham of 
Duntrune, (representative of Yiscount Dundee,) has, for 
several years, been lost or mislaid. ■•' 

A memorial of Nelson is left in some half-dozen of 
rings. In the place of a stone, each ring has a metal 
lasso relievo representation of Nelson, half bust. The 
metal, blackish in appearance, forming the relief, being, 
in reality, portions of the ball which gave the Admiral 
his fatal wound at Trafalgar. 

Cardinal York, the last of the Stuart family, left as a 
legacy to the Prince of Wales, afterwards George the 
Fourth, a valuable ring which was worn by the kings 
of Scotland on the day of their coronation.f 

"We have met with but one case where, in a college 
disputation, the successful contestant was rewarded with 
a ring. James Crichton, who obtained the appellation 
of the " Admirable Crichton," had volunteered — it was 
at a time when he was only twenty years of age — to 
dispute with any one in Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, 
Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, English, Dutch, Flemish 
and Sclavonian ; and this, either in verse or prose. He 
did not seem to prepare himself, but occupied his time 
in hunting, hawking, tilting, vaulting, tossing a pike, 
handling a musket and other military feats. Crichton 
duly appeared in the College of Navarre and acquitted 
himself beyond expression in the disputation, which 
lasted from nine o'clock in the morning until six at 
night. At length, the President, after extolling him 
highly for the many rare and excellent endowments 
which God and nature had bestowed upon him, rose 
from his chair and, accompanied by four of the most 

* Notes and Queries, ii. 70. f Hone's Year Book, 1022. 



OF F I N G E E - 1! I N G S . 189 

eminent professors of the University, gave him a diamond 
ring (with a purse full of money) as a testimony of regard 
and favor." 

In England, during the year 1815, a tooth of Sir Isaac 
Xewton was sold for seven hundred and twenty pounds 
to a nobleman who had it set in a ring. 

The elder Kean used to wear, to the hour of his death, 
a gold snake ring, with ruby head and emerald eyes. At 
the sale of his effects, it fetched four guineas and an 
half.f 

On the day of the arrival of Miss Milbankes' answer 
to Lord Byron's offer of marriage, he was sitting at 
dinner in Kewstead Abbey, when his gardener came 
and presented him with his mother's ring, which she 
had lost and which the gardener had just found in 
diffffinff up the mould under her window. Almost at 
the same moment, the letter from Miss Milbankes ar- 
rived; and Lord Byron exclaimed, "If it contains a con- 
sent, I will be married with this very ring.";): It does 
not appear whether it was really used. Strange, if it 
were ! and singular that his lordship, so full of power- 
ful superstition, should have suggested it. His mother's 
temper had been, in part, his bane ; her marriage was a 
most unhappy one ; the poet's father notoriously wedded 
for money and was separated from his wife — while, the 
poet's offer, at a time when he was greatly embarrassed, 
coupled with his own mysterious after-separation, would 
make this ring appear a fatal talisman if it were really 
placed upon Miss Milbankes' finger. It was in his after- 

* BiograpMa Britannica, Art. CricMon. 
+ London Gent's Mag., N. S., ii. p. 195. 
% Moore's Life of Byron, vol. i. p. 458. 



190 HISTORY AND POETRY 

bitterness, in his desolate state and dissoluteness that 
Byron called the wedding-ring " the damn'dest part of 
matrimony." 

§ 5. In the last Polish struggle, the matrons of Warsaw 
sent their marriage rings to coin into ducats.* 

A few years ago the signet-ring of the famous Turlough 
Lynnoch was found at Charlemont in the county of Ar- 
magh, Ireland. It bears the bloody hand of the 0'£s"eils 
and initials T. O. The signet part of the ring is circular 
and the whole of it silver. O'Neils had been kings of 
Ireland and were also Earls of Ulster. The symbol of the 
province of Ulster was a bloody hand. Fergus, the first 
King of Scotland, was descended from the O'Neils. 
King James the First made this bloody hand the dis- 
tinguishing badge of a new order of baronets and they 
were created to aid by service or money for forces in 
subduing the O'Neils.f 

During the years 1813, 1814 and 1815, when Prussia 
had collected all her resources, in the hope of freeing 
herself from the yoke which France had laid upon her, 
the most extraordinary feelings of patriotism burst forth. 
Every thought was centred in the struggle ; every coffer 
was drained; all gave willingly. In town and village 
altars were erected, on which ornaments of gold, silver 
and precious stones were offered up. Massive plate was 
replaced in palaces by dishes, platters and spoons of 
wood. Ladies wore no other ornaments than those made 
of iron, upon which was engraved : " We gave gold for 
the freedom of our country / and, like her, wear an iron 

* Beattie's Life of Campbell, ii. 2S7. 
t Dublin Penny Journal, 20S. 



OF FIN GEE-EIN G S. 191 

yoke" One evening, a party had assembled in the house 
of an inhabitant of Breslau. Among them, was a beau- 
tiful though poor maiden. Her companions were boast- 
ing what each had contributed towards the freedom of 
their country. Alas ! she had no offering to proclaim — 
none to give. "With a heavy heart she took her leave. 
While unrobing for the niffht, she thought she could dis- 
pose of her hair and, so, add to the public fund. "With 
the dawn, she went to a hairdresser's ; related her simple 
tale ; and parted with her tresses for a trifling sum, which 
she instantly deposited on an altar and returned to her 
quiet home. This reached the ears of the officers ap- 
pointed each day to collect the various offerings ; and 
the President received a confirmation from the hair- 
dresser, who proposed to resign the beautiful hair, pro- 
vided it was resold for the benefit of fatherland. The 
offer was accepted ; iron rings were made, each contain- 
ing a portion of hair ; and these produced far more than 
their weight in gold.* 

* The Death Warrant, or Guide to Life, 1844. (London.) 



CHAPTER FIVE. 

EINGS OF LOYE, AFFECTION AND FRIENDSHIP. 

1. The Gimmal or Gimmow Ring. 2. Sonnet by Davison. 3. Church Mar- 
riage ordained by Innocent III. ; and, Marriage-King. 4. Kings used in 
different countries on Marriages and in Betrothment Esthonia ; the Copts ; 
Persia; Spain ; Ackmetchet in Kussia. 5. Betrothal Kings. 6. Signets of 
the first Christians. 7. Laws of Marriage. 8. "Wedding Finger ; Artery to 
the Heart; Lady who had lost the King Finger. 9. Koman Catholic Mar- 
riages. 10. Marriage-King during the Commonwealth. 11. King in Jew- 
ish Marriages. 12. Superstitions. 13. Kings of twisted Gold-wire given 
away at Weddings. 14. Cupid and Psyche. 15. St. Anne and St. Joachim. 
16. Kush Kings. 17. Kings with the Orpine Plant. 18. Ancient Marriage- 
Kings had Mottoes and Seals. 19. The Sessa King. 20. Kings bequeathed 
or kept in Memory of the Dead : Washington; Shakspeare ; Pope; Dr. 
Johnson; Lord Eldon; Tom Moore's Mother. 21. The Ship Poiohattan. 
22. Ring of Affection illustrated by a Pelican and Young. 23. Bran of 
Brittany. 24. Kings used by Writers of Fiction ; Shakspeare's Cymbe- 
linc. 25. Small Kings for the Penates. 2G. Story from the " Gesta Korna- 
norum." 

§ 1. One of tlio prettiest tokens of friendship and 
affection is what is termed a Gimmal or Gimmow Rinsr. 
It is of French origin. This ring is constructed, as the 
name imports, of twin or double hoops, which play with- 
in- one another, like the links of a chain. Each hoop 
has one of its sides flat and the other convex ; and each 
is twisted once round and sur- 
mounted with an emblem or 
motto. The course of the twist, 
in each hoop, is made to corre- 
spond with that of its counter- 




FINGEE-EINGS. 193 

part, so that, on bringing together the flat surfaces of the 
hoops, these immediately unite in one ring.* 

This form of ring is connected with the purest and 
highest acts of friendship ; it became a simple love to- 
ken ; and was, at length, converted into the more serious 
sjtonsalium annulus, or ring of affiance. 

The lover putting his finger through one of the hoops 
and his mistress hers through the other, were thus sym- 
bolically yoked together; a yoke which neither could 
be said wholly to wear, one half being allotted to the 
other; and making, as it has been quaintly said, a joint 
tenancy. 

Dry den describes a gimmal ring in his play of Don 
Sebastian :\ 

" A curious artist wrought 'em — 
With joints so close as not to be perceived ; 
Yet are they both each other's counterparts ! 
(Her part had Juan inscribed ; and his had Laydor ; 
You know those names were theirs ;) and in the midst 
A heart divided in two-halfs was placed. 
]S"ow if the rivets of those rings, inclosed, 
Fit not each other, I have forged this lie, 
But if they join, you must for ever part." 

Gimmal rings, though originally double, were, by a 
further refinement, made triple and even more compli- 
cated, yet the name remained unchanged. 

Herrick, in his " Hesperides," has the following lines : 

" THE JIMMAL RING OR TRUE-LOVE KNOT. 

" Thou sent'st to me a true-love knot ; but I 
Return'd a ring of jimmals, to imply 
Thy love had one knot, mine a triple-tye." 

* Hone's Every Day Book. f 1690, p. 122. 

9 



191 HISTORY AND POETRY 

A singular silver gimmal ring was found in Dorset, 
England ; the legend Ave Maria is partly inscribed on 
each moiety and legible only when they are united." 

A beautiful enamelled ring of this kind which belong- 
ed to Sir Thomas Gresham, is extant.* It opens horizon- 
tally, thus forming two rings, which are, nevertheless, 
linked together and respectively inscribed on the inner 
side with a Scripture posy : quod. devs. conjvnxit (what 
God did join) is engraved on one half and homo non 
separat, (let not man separate), on the other. The ring 
is beautifully enamelled. One of the portions is set with 
a diamond and the other with a ruby ; and corresponding 
with them, in a cavity inside the ring, are or rather were 
within the last twenty years two minute figures or genii. 
The workmanship is admirable and probably Italian. 

The reader who may be curious to know more about 
the gimmal ring, and the probable derivation of the 
word Gimmal, is referred to a learned and interesting 
article by Robert Smith, Esq., in the London Archgeo- 
logia, vol. xii. p. 7. 

It is possible that Shakspeare was thinking of gim- 
mal rings, some of which had engraven on them a hand 
with a heart in it, when (in the Tempest) he makes Fer- 
dinand say to Miranda " Here's my hand " and she an- 
swers " And mine, with my heart in it." 

§ 2. Coupled with the love of youth for maiden, we 
have one of the most simple and perfect of old English 
sonnets (by Davison) :\ 

* Gent's Mag. for 1852, p. 640. 

t lb. vol. xxxv. N. S. 390 ; Burgou's Life and. Times of Sir Thomas Gres- 
ham, i. 51. 
\ Poetical Khapsody. 



OF FINGER-KINGS. 195 

" PURE AND ENDLESS." 

" If you would know the love which you I bear, 
Compare it to the ring which your fair hand 
Shall make more precious, when you shall it wear : 
So my love's nature you shall understand. 
Is it of metal pure ? So endless is my love, 
Unless you it destroy with your disdain. 
Doth it the purer grow the more 'tis tried ? 
So doth my love ; yet herein they dissent : 
That whereas gold, the more 'tis purified, 
By growing less, doth show some part is spent ; 
My love doth grow more pure by your more trying, 
And yet increaseth in the purifying." 

As far back as the fifteenth century a lover wore his 
ring on the last or little finger.* 

§ 3. It is said that Pope Innocent the Third was the 
first who ordained the celebration of marriage in the 
church ; before which, it was totally a civil contract ; 
hence arose dispensations, licenses, faculties and other 
remnants of papal benefit, f ShelfordJ observes it came 
with the Council of Trent. The Council sat within the 
Bishopric of Trent, Germany, from the year 1545 to 
1563. 

But the ring was used in connection with marriage 
before Catholic times. The Greeks had it. We find 
from Juvenal§ that the Romans employed the ring. 
There was commonly a feast on the signing of the mar- 
riage contract ; and the man gave the woman a ring 
(annulus promibus) by way of pledge, which she put 
upon her left hand, on the finger next the least : because 

* Polyglot Dictionary, by John Minshew, (1625,) art. Ring-Finger. 

t Reflections on the Causes of Unhappy Marriages, etc., "by Lewis, p. 84. 

% Shelford on Marriage, 17, 31. § Sat. VI. verse 27. 



196 



HISTORY AND POETEY 




of the suggested nerve running to the heart.* The ring 
was generally of iron, though sometimes of copper and 
brass, with little knobs in the form of a key, to represent- 
that the wife had possession of the husband's keys.f 
Roman keys attached to a ring for the finger are not 
uncommon 4 The ring is at right angles 
to the axle and, therefore, it could only 
be used for a lock which required very 
little strength to turn it or as a latch- 
key. It may be a question, whether these 
were not rings used on marriages ? 

Maffei gives a gem, upon which is engraved only the 
two Greek words AOANACI niCTIC, in English, Faith 
immortal, which he considers as intended to be set in a 
betrothal ring — in some one of those rings which lovers 
gave to their beloved, with protestations of eternal con- 
stancy, as a tacit promise of matrimony. Some Roman 
nuptial rings had inscriptions, as A ma one / Amo te ; Bo- 
nam vitam, etc. Among other rings found at Pompeii 
were some which are considered to have been wedding- 
rings^ One, of gold, picked up in Diomed's house, had 
a device representing a man and woman joining hands. 
Another, was a double gold ring, in 
which two small green stones were set- 
There is no evidence that the ring 
was used by the Egyptians at a mar- 
riage.!" 

On the authority of a text in Exo- 
dus, wedding-rings are attempted to 

* Macrob. Sat. VII. 15. 

t Wilson's Archseological Dictionary, art. Ring. 

X Archaeological Album, by Wright, p. 138. 

§ Illustrations of Ancient Art, by Trollope, p. 49. H Wilkinson. 




OF FINGER-RINGS. 197 

be carried as far back as the Hebrews.* Leo of Mode- 
na, however, maintains that they did not use any nup- 
tial ring.f Selden owns that they gave a ring in mar- 
riage, but that it was only in lieu of a piece of money 
of the same value which had before been presented. It 
probably was ring-money or money in the shape of a ring, 
(of which we have before spoken.) 

§ 4. The common use of the ring in different countries, 
when betrothment or marriage takes place, is remarkable. 

In Esthonia, a province of the Russian empire, where 
the girls consider marriage the one great object to be 
coveted, attained and prepared for from the earliest dawn 
of their susceptibilities, they spin and weave at their 
outfit, frequently for ten years before their helpmate is 
forthcoming : this outfit extends to a whole wardrobe 
full of kerchiefs, gloves, stockings, etc. When they have 
formed an acquaintance to their liking, the occasion hav- 
ing been usually of their own creating, they look forward 
with impatience to the moment of the proposal being 
made. But there is one season only, the period of the 
new moon, when an offer can be tendered ; nor is any 
time so much preferred for a marriage as the period of 
the full moon. The plenipos in the business of an offer 
are generally a couple of the suitors' friends or else his 
parents, who enter the maid's homestead with mead and 
brandy in their hands. On their approach the gentle 
maiden conceals herself, warning having been given her in 
due form by some ancient dame ; the plenipos never make 
a direct announcement of the purpose of their mission, 
but in most cases tell the girl's parents some story about 

* Ch. 35, v. 22. t Uxor Ebraiea, Lib. ii. cli. 14. 



198 HISTORY AND POETRY 

a lamb or an ewe which has got astray and they desire to 
bring home again. The parents immediately invite them 
to drink, vowing that they know nothing of the stray 
creature ; if they decline to drink with them, it is a sign 
either that they have no inclination for the match or that 
their daughter has whispered them " her heart has no 
room for the youth in question." But if all are of one 
mind, the parents set merrily to work on the mead and 
brandy and give the suitor's envoys free license to hunt 
out the stray lambkin. When caught, she is also expected 
to taste of the cup ; and from that moment the bride- 
groom becomes at liberty to visit his bride. He makes 
his appearance, therefore, a few days afterwards, bring- 
ing presents of all kinds with him, together with a ring, 
which he places on the maiden's finger as his betrothed.* 

The Copts have a custom of betrothing girls at six or 
seven years of age, which is done by putting a ring upon 
their linger ; but permission is afterwards obtained for 
her friends to educate her until she arrives at years of 
discretion. f 

In Persia, a ring is among the usual marriage presents 
on the part of the bridegroom.^ 

It is said that in Spain every girl who has attained 
the age of twelve may compel a young man to marry 
her, provided he has reached his fourteenth year and she 
can prove, for instance, that he has promised her his hand 
and given her to understand that he wished her to become 
his wife. These proofs are adduced before an ecclesias- 
tical vicar. A present of a ring is considered sufficient 
proof to enable the girl to claim her husband. If the 

* Kohl's Beminiscences. 

t Hamilton's Marriage Kites, p. 1SS. % lb. 194. 



OF FINGER-KINGS. 199 

vicar pronounces the marriage ought to take place, the 
youth, who has been previously sent to prison, cannot be 
liberated until after the celebration.* 

Dr. Clark, in his Travels in Russia, describes the mar- 
riage, at Ackmetchet, of Professor Pallas's daughter with 
an Hungarian General according to the rites of the Greek 
Church. After ascertaining as to ties of blood between 
them and voluntary consent, a Bible and crucifix were 
placed before them and large lighted wax tapers, deco- 
rated with ribbons, put into their hands. 

After certain prayers had been read and the ring put 
upon the bride's finger, the floor was covered by a piece 
of scarlet satin and a table was placed before them with 
the communion vessels. The priest having tied their 
hands together with bands of the same colored satin 
and placed a chaplet of flowers upon their heads, ad- 
ministered the sacrament and afterwards led them, thus 
bound together, three times round the communion table 
followed by the bride's father and the bridesmaids. 
During this ceremony, the choristers chanted a hymn ; 
and after it was concluded, a scene of general kissing 
took place among all present, etc. 

§ 5. The betrothal of a young couple was formerly at- 
tended with considerable ceremony, a portion of which 
was the exchange of rings. Shakspeare alludes to this 
in the play of " Twelfth Mght :" 

" Strengthened by the interchangement of your rings." 

"\Ye have a similar thing in " Two Gentlemen of 
Yerona ;"f 

* Bcmrgoing's Travels through Spain. t Act 2d, sc. 2d. 



200 HISTORY AND POETRY 

Julia. u Keep this remembrance for thy Julia's sake." 

Proteus. " Why then we'll make exchange ; here, take you this." 

[Giving a ring. 
Julia. " And seal the bargain with a holy kiss." 

This betrothing, affiancing, espousal or plighting troth 
between lovers was sometimes done in church with great 
solemnity ; and the service on this occasion is preserved 
in some of the old rituals.* 

The virgin and martyr, Agnes, in Ambrose, says : 
"My Lord Jesus Christ hath espoused me with his ring." 

This interchangement of rings appears in Chaucer's 
" Troilus and Cresseide :" 

" Soon after this they spake of sondry things 
As fitt to purpose of this aventure, 
And playing enterchangeden of rings 
Of whom I can not tellen no scripture. 
But well I wot, a broche of gold and assure 
In which a rubie set was like an herte, 
Creseide him gave, and stacke it on his sherte."f 

In Germany, a loving couple start on the principle of 
reciprocity and exchange rings. This is not done at the 
time of the marriage ceremony, but previously when 
the formal betrothment takes place, which is generally 
made the occasion of a family festival. The ring thus 
used is not called a wedding ring, but Trau ring, which 
means ring of betrothal. A particular ring does not 
form part of the ceremony of marriage. Royalty, how- 
ever, appears to go beyond the common custom of the 
country, even in a marriage. At the late marriage of 
the Emperor of Austria, the Prince Archbishop of 
Yienna, who performed the ceremony, took rings from 

* Douce, 24. t Book iii. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 201 

a golden cup and presented them to the august couple, 
who, reciprocally, placed them on each other's finger ; 
and, while either held the hand of the other, they re- 
ceived the episcopal benediction. 

In the early Christian Church a ring of troth, the 
annuhis pronubus, was given by the man to the woman 
as a token and proof of her betrothment. 

Pope Nicholas, A. D. 860, in the account which he 
gives of the ceremonies used in the Roman Church, 
says : " In the espousals, the man first presents the 
woman whom he betroths with the arrse or espousal 
gifts ; ' and among these, he puts a ring on her finger."* 
This ring, which may be traced back to the time of 
Tertullian, appears to have come into the Christian 
Church from Roman usage ; although the Oriental ring 
of betrothment may have been the origin of both. 

According to the ritual of the Greek Church, the 
priest first placed the rings on the fingers of the parties, 
who afterwards exchanged them. In the life of St. 
Leobard, who is said to have flourished about the year 
580, written by Gregory of Tours, he appears to have given 
a ring, a kiss and a pair of shoes to his affianced. The ring 
and shoes were a symbol of securing the lady's hands and. 
feet in the trammels of conjugal obedience ; but the ring, 
of itself, was sufficient to confirm the contract.f 

It would seem that, on the ceremony of betrothal, the 
ring was placed on the third finger of the right hand ; 
and it may be a question, whether the beautiful picture 
by Raffaelle, called Lo Sposalizio, should not be con- 
sidered as an illustration of espousal or betrothing and 

* The People's Dictionary of the Bible, art. Rings. 
t Donee's Illustrations of Shakspeare, p. 69. 



202 HISTORY AND POETRY 

not a marriage of the Yirgin. Mary and Joseph stand 
opposite to each other in the centre ; the high priest, 
between them, is bringing their right hands towards 
each other ; Joseph, with his right hand, (guided by the 
priest,) is placing the ring on the third finger of the 
right hand of the Yirgin ; beside Mary is a group of the 
virgins of the Temple ; near Joseph are the suitors, who 
break their barren wands — that which Joseph holds in 
his hand has blossomed into a lily, which, according to 
the legend, was the sign that he was the chosen one.* 

The same circumstance, of placing the ring on the third 
finger of the right hand, is observable in Ghirlandais's 
fresco of the " Espousals" in the church of the Santa 
Croce at Florence. 

There is certainly some confusion as to the hand on 
which the marriage-ring was placed. However, in re- 
ligious symbols of espousal, the distinction of the right 
hand was certainly kept. In an ancient pontifical was 
an order that the bridegroom should place the ring 
successively on three fingers of the right hand and leave 
it on the fourth finger of the left, in order to mark the 
difference between the marriage-ring, the symbol of a 
love which is mixed with carnal affection and the epis- 
copal ring, the symbol of entire chastity. f 

The espousal became the marriage-ring. The espou- 

* The beautiful architectural design in this picture is said to be copied, but 
very much improved, from a picture by Perugino, the master of Eaffaelle. As 
the latter had a genius beyond copying and as Perugino made use of the talents 
of his pupil, it is fair to suppose that Eaffaelle composed the building and 
afterwards claimed its outline by inserting it, with improvament from reflec- 
tion, in his own painting, Lo Sposalizio. The general form and proportions 
are to be found in Brunelleschi's design for the octagon chapel of the Scho- 
lari annexed to the church Degl' Angeli at Florence. See Kugler's Hand 
Book of Painting, by Eastlake, p. 332. t Martense, ii. 128. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 203 

sais consisted in a mutual promise of marriage, which 
was made by the man and woman before the bishop or 
presbyter and several witnesses ; after which, the articles 
of agreement of marriage (called tabulae matrimoniales) 
which are mentioned by Augustin, were signed by both 
persons. After this, the man delivered to the woman 
the ring and other gifts : an action which was termed 
subarrhation. In the latter ages the espousals have al- 
ways been performed at the same time as the office of 
matrimony, both in the western and eastern churches ; 
and it has long been customary for the ring to be deli- 
vered to the woman after the contract has been made, 
which has always been in the actual office of matrimony.* 
According to Clemens Alexandrinus, the ring was 
given, not as an ornament but as a seal to signify the 
woman's duty in preserving the goods of her husband, 
because the care of the house belongs to her. This idea, 
by the by, is very reasonable, as we shall hereafter show, 
when speaking of the ritual of the Church of England. 
The symbolical import of the " wedding ring," under 
the spiritual influence of Christianity, came to comprise 
the general idea of wedded fidelity in all the width and 
importance of its application. f 

§ 6. The first Christians engraved upon their seals sym- 
bolical figures, such as a dove, fish, anchor or lyre. J The 
rings used in their fyancels represented pigeons, fish, 
or, more often, two hands joined together. Clemens of 
Alexandria, who permitted these symbols, condemns not 
only the representation of idols, but also of the instru- 

* Palmer's Origines Liturgicce, vol. ii. p. 214. 
t Bishop Jeremy Taylor's " Wedding Ring" 
% Fosbroke's Encyc. of Autiqiiities, p. 250. 



204: HISTORY AND POETRY 

ments of war, vases for the table and every thing repug- 
nant to the strictness of the Gospel. 

A ring, when used by the church, signifies, to use the 
words of liturgical writers, integritatem fidei, the perfec- 
tion of fidelity and is fidei sacramentum, the badge of 
fidelity.* 

§ 7. The canon law is the basis of marriage through- 
out Europe, except so far as it has been altered by the 
municipal laws of particular States. f An important alte- 
ration was made in the law of marriage in manv countries 
by the decrees of the Council of Trent, held for the 
reformation of marriage. These decrees are the stand- 
ing judgments of the Romish Church ; but they were 
never received as authority in Great Britain. Still the 
ecclesiastical law of marriage in England is derived from 
the Roman pontiffs. It has been traced as far back as 
605, soon after the establishment of Christianity tliere.J 

Marriages in the Episcopal Church are governed by 
the Rubric. This term signifies a title or article in 
certain ancient common-law books. 

Rubrics also denote the rules and directions given at 
the beginning and in the course of the liturgy, for the 
order and manner in which the several parts of the office 
are to be performed. 

Statutes of the English Parliament have confirmed 
the use of the rubric inserted in the part of the Com- 
mon Prayer Book relating to the marriage ceremony. 
But prior to the British marriage acts, a case arose where 
no ring was used according to the Common Prayer Book. 

* Notes and Queries, ii. 611. 

1 1 Dow, 181 ; 2 Hagg. C. E. 70, 81. 

\ Hallam's Middle Ages, ii. 286, et seq. ; Shelford on Marriage, 19, 20. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 205 

A then Chief Justice (C. J. Pemberton) was inclined 
to think it a good contract, there being words of a present 
contract repeated after a person in orders.* 

The rubric directs that the man shall give unto the 
woman a ring, laying the same upon the book ; and the 
priest, taking the ring, shall deliver it unto the man to 
put it on the fourth finger of the woman's left hand. 
And he says, " With this ring I thee wed, with my body 
I thee worship and with all my worldly gifts I thee 
endow." These words are best explained by the rubric 
of the 2d of Edward VL, which ran thus :f " The man 
shall give unto the woman a ring and other tokens of 
spousage, as gold or silver, laying the same upon the 
book ; and the man, taught by the priest, shall say, 
' With this ring I thee wed, this gold and silver I thee 
give ;' " and then these words, " "With all my worldly 
goods I thee endow," were delivered with a more pecu- 
liar significancy. Here the proper distinction is made, 
the endowment of all his goods means granting the cus- 
tody or key and care of them. It will be seen that the 
word " endow" is kept apart from the positive gift of 
pieces of gold and silver. It has been said that the an- 
cient pledge was a piece of silver worn in the pocket ; 
but marriage being held sacred, it was thought more 
prudent to have the pledge exposed to view by making 
it into a ring worn upon the hand.J 

The Christian marriage-ring appears, in its substance, 
to have been copied from the Roman nuptial ring. It 
was, according to Swinburn, of iron, adorned with an 

* Poulter v. Cornwall, Salk. 9. 
+ Burns' Ecel. Law — Marriage. 
% Athenian Oracle, No. xxvi. 



206 HISTORY AND POETRY 

adamant ; the metal hard and durable, signifying the 
durance and perpetuity of the contract. Howbeit, he 
says, it skilleth not at this day what metal the ring be 
of, the form of it being round and without end doth 
import that their love should circulate and flow continu- 
ally. 

In the Roman ritual there is a benediction of the ring: 
and a prayer that she who wears it may continue in per- 
fect love and fidelity to her husband and in fear of God 
all her days.* 

§ 8. We have remarked on the vulgar error of a vein 
going from the fourth finger of the left hand to the 
heart. It is said by Swinburn and others that therefore 
it became the wedding finger. The j>riestliood kept up 
this idea by still keeping it as the wedding finger ; but 
it was got at through the use of the Trinity : for, in the 
ancient ritual of English marriages, the ring was placed 
by the husband on the top of the thumb of the left hand, 
with the words, " In the name of the Father ;" he then 
removed it to the forefinger, saying : "In the name of 
the Son;" then to the middle finger, adding: "And of 
the Holy Ghost ;" finally, he left it, as now, on the fourth 
finger, with the closing word " Amen."f 

As to the supposed artery to the heart. Levinus Lem- 
nius quaintly says : — " A small branch of the artery and 
not of the nerves, as Gellius thought, is stretched forth 
from the heart unto this finger, the motion whereof you 
may perceive evidently in all that affects the heart of 
woman, by the touch of your forefinger. I used to raise 

* Bums' Eccl. Law, art. Marriage. 
t Notes and Queries, iv. 199. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 207 

such as are fallen in a swoon by pinching this joint and 
by rubbing the ring of gold with a little saffron : for, by 
this, a restoring force that is in it passeth to the heart 
and refresheth the fountain of life unto which this finger 
is joined. Wherefore antiquity thought fit to encompass 
it about with gold."* 

By the way, a correspondent, in a British periodical, 
suggests : that a lady of his acquaintance has had the 
misfortune to lose the ring finger, and the question is 
raised whether she can be married in the Church of 
England ! ?f 

In the "British Apollo" it is said that, during the 
time of George the First, the wedding-ring, though placed 
in the ceremony of the mariage upon the fourth finger, 
was worn upon the thumb.:): 

The use of the ring has become so common in England 
that poor people will not believe the marriage to be 
good without one ; and the notion also is that it must 
be of gold. At Worcester (England) on one occasion, 
the parties were so poor that they used a brass ring. 
The bride's friends indignantly protested that the ring 
ought to have been of gold ; and the acting officer was 
threatened with indictment for permitting the use of such 
base metal- 
In another case of humble marriage, the bridegroom 
announced that a ring was not necessary. The woman 
entreated to have one. The superintendent of the poor 
took part with the woman and represented how the ab- 
sence of it would expose her to insult ; and he, kindly, 
hesitated to proceed with the marriage until a ring was 

* Hone's Table Eook. f Notes and Queries, ir. 871. 

J Vol. i. p. 270. 



208 HISTORY AND POETRY 

produced. The man yielded at last and. obtained one. 
The woman's gratitude brought tears into her eyes. 

§ 9. In Roman Catholic marriages, with the priest in 
pontificals, go two clerks in surplices. The latter carry 
the holy-water pot, the sprinkler, the ritual and a little 
basin to put the ring in when it is to be blessed. * After 
the pair have clasped hands and the priest has by words 
joined them together, he makes the sign of the cross 
upon them ; sprinkles them with holy water ; blesses the 
wedding-ring and sprinkles it also with holy water in 
the form of a cross, after which he gives it to the man, 
who puts it on the wedding-finger of the woman's left 
hand. 

§ 10. The supposed heathen origin of our marriage- 
ring had well nigh caused the abolition of it during the 
time of the Commonwealth in England. The facetious 
author of Hudibras gives us the following chief reasons 
why the Puritans wished it to be set aside : 

" Others were for abolishing 
That tool of matrimony, a ring ; 
With which th' unsanctify'd bridegroom 
Is marry'd only to a thumb, 
(As wise as ringing of a pig 
That us'd to break up ground and dig,) 
The bride to nothing but the will, 
That nulls the after-marriage still. "f 

§ 11. The author of the present essay found a diffi- 
culty in getting a correct account of the use of the ring 
in Jewish marriages ;:£ although there is an exceedingly 

* Hamilton's Marriage Kites, etc., 125. 

t III. ii. 309. % See Hamilton's Marriage Rites, etc., 178. 



OF FINGEE-EIKaS. 209 

learned find interesting decision in relation to one in the 
English Ecclesiastical Reports.* He applied to a pro- 
fessional friend of the Jewish persuasion, who obtained 
the following interesting particulars from one of our best 
Hebrew scholars :f The nuptial rite among the Jews con- 
sists of three distinct acts which together form the regu- 
lar marriage ceremony. 

1st. The religious act Kidushin, consecration, by which 
the husband that is to be mekudesh consecrates — that 
is to say, sets apart from all other women and inhibits 
to all other men the woman who, by that act, becomes 
his w T ife. 

The ceremony is performed in manner following. A 
canopy is raised under which the bridegroom takes his 
stand. The bride is brought in and placed either at his 
right hand or opposite to him. The officiating minister 
pronounces the initiatory nuptial benediction, after which 
he receives from the bridegroom a ring that must be 
of a certain value and the absolute property of the 
bridegroom, purchased and paid for by him and not 
received as a present or bought on credit. After due 
inquiry on these points, the minister returns the ring 
to the bridegroom, who places it on the forefinger of the 
bride's right hand, while at the same time he says to her 
in Hebrew : " Behold ! thou art mekudesketh consecrated 
unto me by means of this ring, according to the law of 
Moses and of Israel." The bride joins in and expresses 
her consent to this act of consecration by holding out her 
right hand and accepting the ring ; which — after her 

* Lindo v. Belisario, 1 Haggard's Consist. Eeps. 217. 

t And see Morgan's Doctrine and Law of Marriage, Adultery and Divorce, 
i. 97, et seq., pnd particularly note x. at p. 103. 



210 IIISTOKY AND POETEY 

■husband has pronounced the formula — constitutes her 
his lawful wife ; so that, even though the marriage should 
not be consummated, neither party is thenceforth at 
liberty to contract another marriage, unless they have 
previously been divorced according to law : and if the 
woman were to submit to the embraces of another man, 
she would be guilty of adultery. 

The law which enjoins " consecration " requires that 
the symbol of the act should be an object made of one 
of the precious metals — gold or silver — and of a certain 
value. But though the law does not insist on or even 
mention a ring, yet the custom of using a ring has, dur- 
ing very many centuries, so generally prevailed — to the 
exclusion of all other symbols — that the words "by means 
of this ring " have been incorporated in the formula of 
consecration. In the greater part of Europe and in 
America the ring is usually of gold ; but in Russia, 
Poland and the East the poorer classes use rings of 
silver. 

2d. The civil act Ketiibah, written contract : As soon 
as bridegroom and bride have completed the act of con- 
secration, the officiating minister proceeds to read the 
marriage contract, a document in Hebrew characters, 
signed by the bridegroom in the presence of two compe- 
tent witnesses — by which the husband engages to pro- 
tect, cherish and maintain his wife ; to provide her with 
food, raiment, lodging and all other necessaries ; and 
secure to her a dowry for the payment of which the 
whole of his estate — real and personal — stands pledged. 

"When this document has been read, the minister pro- 
nounces the closing nuptial benediction, and a glass is 
broken in memory of Jerusalem destroyed, (see Psalm 



/ 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 211 

cxxxvii.,) which completes the ceremony. The psalm 
here referred to is that most beautiful one, beginning 
" By the rivers of Babylon," and ending with what has 
immediate reference to the destruction : " Happy shall 
he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the 
stones."* 

3d. But. all the time these religious and civil acts are 
being performed, the young couple have likewise before 
their eyes and above their heads the emblem of the 
moral act Hhujpah, cohabitation or living together by 
themselves under one roof. This is the purpose for which 
the canopy is raised over them; beneath which they 
ought, by right, to stand quite alone — though generally 
the minister and parents or nearest friends also find room 
under it. 

These three distinct acts — religious, civil and domes- 
tic — to constitute marriage according to the regular form 
Hhupa ve Mdushin, require ten adult male witnesses. 
But so binding is the act of consecration, that if it were 
performed privately, without the knowledge of parents 
or assistance of minister and solely in the presence of 
two competent witnesses who hear the man pronounce 
the formula " Behold thou art consecrated unto me," etc., 
and see the woman accept the ring, this proceeding, how- 
ever irregular and reprehensible, constitutes a marriage 
perfectly valid in the eyes of the law. 

Larpent, writing from France, but imbued with an or- 
dinary English prejudice, which is apt to ridicule unfa- 
miliar things and lose sight of reasons for customs, blurts 
out this : " I have been to the Jew's wedding. The cere- 
mony consists principally of singing and drinking and 

* Verse 9. 



212 HISTORY AND POETRY 

blessing in Hebrew. There must be something Jewish, 
however, as usual, and that is concerning the ring, which, 
as soon as produced, is shown round to all the rabbis 
near and some elders, etc., and to the sponsors, to be 
sure it is really gold or otherwise the marriage is void ; 
and the true old clothesman-like way in which they all 
spied at the ring was very amusing. Nearly the last 
ceremony is the bridegroom's smashing a wine-glass in 
a plate on the floor, with an idea that he and his spouse 
are then as difficult to separate as it would be to re-unite 
the glass. The gentleman showed gallantry by exerting 
all his force and looking most fiercely as he broke the 
glass."* 

The handing of the ring from the minister to some one 
of the persons present has a reason broader than that 
which Larpent is pleased to assign, as we consider we 
have shown. We confirm it by saying, that the Jewish, 
law requires, at the time of marriage, that a valuable 
consideration should pass from the bridegroom to the 
bride. This consideration is represented by the ring, 
which, therefore, must not be of less value than the 
minimum, fixed by the law. And as this value has to 
be ascertained and attested, which cannot be done by 
less than two witnesses, the officiating minister or Rabbi, 
after making the inquiries required by law, examines 
the ring and hands it to the presiding officer of the syna- 
gogue, (a layman, who is supposed to know more about 
the value of gold or silver than a Rabbi,) who also ex- 
amines and hands it back to the minister ; and these two, 
the minister and the officer of the synagogue, then wit- 
ness that the article is of that value which the law re- 

* Larpent's Private Journal, 563. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 213 

quires. We say this advisedly ; and can add as positively 
that the ring is never handed round to third persons. 

At a marriage to which the author was invited — a 
marriage between a Jewish merchant and the amiable 
daughter of a learned Rabbi in New- York — the usual 
course was not departed from. The father of the bride, 
who officiated, received the ring from the bridegroom, 
ascertained that it was the young man's own property 
lawfully acquired, examined and then delivered it to the 
president of the synagogue. He, also, examined and 
handed the ring back to the minister, who, finally, per- 
formed the ceremony. 

§ 12. Some married women are so rigidly superstitious 
or firm that they will not draw off their wedding-ring 
to wash or at any other time : extending the expression 
" till death do us part" even to the ring.* 

And there is a superstition connected with the wear 
of the ring, worked into this proverb : 

" As your wedding-ring wears, 
Your cares will wear away." 

§ 13. Gold- wire rings of three twisted wires were 
given away at weddings ; and Anthony Wood relates of 
Edward Kelly, a " famous philosopher" in Queen Eliza- 
beth's days, that " Kelly, who was openly profuse beyond 
the modest limits of a sober philosopher, did give away 
in gold- wire rings (or rings twisted with three gold wires) 
at the marriage of one of his maid servants, to the value 
of £4,000."f 

* Hone's Table Book. 

t Fosbroke, 249 ; Hone's Table Book. 



214: HISTORY AND POETRY 

§ 14. A gold ring has been discovered in Eome, which 
has the subject of Cupid and Psyche cut into the metal. - 
We give an enlarged illustration of it. Psyche is figured 




more ethereally than she generally appears upon gems. 

The lower portion of this emanation seems to partake of 

the delicate plumage of the butterfly ; and the whole 

prettily illustrates the soul. There is a strong contrast 

between these figures ; and we are inclined to think the 

designer intended it. While Psyche is all that we have 

said, the other form comes up to {Dolman's theatrical 

Cupid : 

" Fat, chubby-cheeked and stupid." 

Byron observes that the story of Cupid and Psyche is 
one uniform piece of loveliness. 

§ 15.1 The meeting of St. Anne and St. Joachim at 
the Golden Gate is a favorite subject.f The Nuns of 

* Caylus, iii. 313, PI. lxxxv. 
t Hone's Every Day Book. 



OF FINGER-RINGS. 215 

St. Anne at Rome show a rude silver ring as the wed- 
dingr-ring of Anne and Joachim.J 



*» ™ o 






§ 16. A wicked trick upon weak and confiding women 
used to be played by forcing upon their finger a rush 
ring : as thereby they fancied themselves married.* 
Richard, Bishop of Salisbury, in his Constitutions, Anno 
1217, forbids the putting of rush rings or any of like 
matter on women's fingers. 

De Breveil says,f it was an ancient custom to use a 
rush ring where the necessity for marriage was apparent. 

§ IT. Rings occur in the fifteenth century, with the 
orpine plant (Telephium) as a device. It was used because 
the bending of the leaves was presumed to prognosticate 
whether love was true or false. The common name for 
orpine plants was that of midsummer men. In a tract said 
to be written by Hannah More, among other superstitions 
of one of the heroines, " she would never go to bed on 
Midsummer Eve without sticking up in her room the 
well-known plant called midsummer men, as the bend- 
ing of the leaves to the right or to the left would never 
fail to tell her whether her lover was true or false." The 
orpine plant occurs among the love divinations on Mid- 
summer Eve in the Connoisseur \\ " I likewise stuck up 
two midsummer men, one for myself and one for him. 
Now if this had died away, we should never have come 
together ; but, I assure you, his blowed and turned to 
mine." 

§ 18. Marriage-rings, in the olden time, were not, as 

* See Douce's Illust. of Skakspeare, 194. 
t Antiquities of Paris. % No. 56. 



216 



H I S T O E Y AND POETRY 



now, plain in form and without words.*- Some had a 
seal part for impression. f A ring of this kind was 
ploughed up in the year 1783 on Flodden Field. It was 
of gold and an inscription upon it ran thus : " Where 
are the constant lovers who can keep themselves from 
evil speakers V This would have been a relic for Abbots- 
ford ; but Dry burgh Abbey has the wizard ; and a stran- 
ger is in his halls. 

A Roman bronze ring has been discovered of singular 
shape and fine workmanship, which appears to have beer: 
intended as a token of love or affection.* 





The parts nearest the collet are flat and resemble a 
triangle from which the summit has been cut. Its 
greatest singularity is an intaglio ploughed out of the 
material itself, representing the head of a young person. 
The two triangular portions which start from the table 
of the ring are filled with ornaments, also engraved hol- 
low. Upon it is the word YIYAS or Ifayest thou live. 



§ 19. In the year 1845, an interesting ring was found at 
Sessa, (the Suessa Auruncorum of the ancients,) situate 

* Herrick, in his Hesperides, speaks of "posies for our wedding-ring." 
t London Gent.'s Mag. vol. lv. O. S. p. 89. 
% Caylus, ii. 312, PI. lxxxix. 



OF FIN GEE- RINGS. 217 

in the Terra cle Livaro, Kingdom of Naples. "We here 
give the original signet. A drawing of the same with its 
outer edge, which, as it will be seen, contained the name 
of an after owner and the outer ring, w T ith its religious 
maxims along its edge, appears in the Archaeological 
Journal.* The stone which forms the signet is of a deep- 
red color and, apparently, a species of agate. In the 
centre are engraved two right hands joined together, 
with the following letters above and below, C. C. P. S., 
I. P. D. Our cut is somewhat larger than the original. 

„ ^ Judging from the workman- 

,,-'''' "\ ship of the signet, it is be- 

./*% \ lieved to have been executed 

\ in the period between the 
i reigns of Severus and Con- 
/ stantine or, in other words, 
about the middle of the third 

^-~ --"' century. The interpretation 

of these letters must be left to conjecture. It would 
appear, however, to have been regarded as an object of 
value or interest at a later period, when it was set in 
gold for the person whose name appears round the stone 
in capital letters, which are to be thus read : 

>}* SIGILLY- THOMASII- DE- EOGERIIS- DE- SUESSA- 
Sigillum TJwmasii ch Bogeriis de Suessa. 

On the outer side of the hoop of the ring are two 
other inscriptions, also in capital letters. The first 
reads : 

^ XPS- YIXGTT- XPS- EEGNAT- XPS- IMPERA- 
Christies vincit, Christies regnat, Christus imjyerat. 

* No. 32. 




218 HISTORY AND POETET 

And the second : 

•►> ET- YERBU: CAEO: FACTU: E: ET ABITAUIT: INOB- 
JEt wrbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis. 

The workmanship of these inscriptions is exceedingly 
good and the letters well formed and sharply cut. It 
will be remarked that in the first legend on the hoop the 
letter T. in the word Imperat is omitted for want of space ; 
and in the second, for the same reason, not only the final 
m, as usual, is twice suppressed, but the word est is given 
in the abbreviated form of e ; several letters are joined 
together ; the aspirate is omitted in habitavit / and the 
letter n is made to serve for the final of in and the 
initial of nobis. As to the elate of this ring, it may, 
very probably, be ascribed to the thirteenth century. 
There can be no doubt that the owner, Thomasius de 
Rogeriis, must have been a member of the Neapolitan 
family of Roggieri. The legend upon the ring, Christus 
vineit, Christus regnat, Christus im/perat, is found, also, 
in the series of Anglo-Gothic gold coins from the reign 
of Edward III. of England to that of Henry VI. 

We have been favored with the perusal of a presenta- 
tion coj)y of the article (in the Archaeological Journal) and 
from it have taken the above explanation. This copy 
was sent by the possessor of the ring, George Borrett, 
of Southampton, England, Esquire, to Isaac E. Cotheal, 
of New- York, Esquire ; and it has, interleaved, (with the 
addition of a wax impression,) the following MS. note : 
" The Abbe Farrari, a priest attached to the Church of 
Sta. Maria in Comedia, (also called the Bocci della 
Yenite,) submitted it to some members of the Propa- 
ganda at Koine, 12th April, 18tt5, who described it as 



OF FINGEE -RINGS. 219 

follows : Cliristus vincit, Christies rcgnat, Ohnsttis im- 
perat, et verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. 
Sigillum Thomasii cle Rogeriis cle Suessa : Christ con- 
quers, Christ reigns, Christ commands and the "\Yord 
was made flesh and dwelt in us. The seal of Thomas 
de Rogeriis de Suessa. 

" The veritable signet of Cicero (i. e.) the coral in the 
centre of the ring only. There were members of the 
Propaganda who thought it resembled some impressions 
attached to documents in the Vatican of the Roman 
Governor in Judea, ' Pontiles Pilate? The gold setting 
is supposed to be about the eighth or ninth century by 
some dignitary in triumph over the pagan philosopher 
or governor." 

Notwithstanding what is thus said, we are strongly 
under the impression that it was a mystical ring or one 
worn in remembrance of a marriage. Upon marbles 
and gems which illustrate the marriage ceremony, the 
bride and bridegroom are represented with their respec- 
tive right hands joined. In Montfaucon* (and figured also 
in MafTei) is a gem which has marital symbols and among 
them a ring and the clasped right hands ; and, in the 
same work, (Montfaucon,)f we find a ring precisely in the 
form and of the size of the Sessa ring, with right hands 
disposed in exactly the same manner and also letters 
above and below the emblem. The words there are : 

PROTEROS 
YGIAE 

Proteros and Hygie ; and Montfaucon says, " Cela 
marque pent etre le mariage contracte entre les deux." 

* Tom. III. P. II. PI. exxciv. 

t Supplement, Tom. III. PL LXV. p. 174. 



220 HISTORY AND POETET 

Addison, in his Dialogue on Medals, says : " The two 
hands that join one another are emblems of Fidelity ;" 
and he quotes (Ovid's Met. lib. iv.) : 

" Inch Fides dextrceque data." 

(Thence faith and the right hand joined.) And also 
Seneca (ITurc. Fur. lib. iv.) ; 

" Sociemus animos, pi gnus hoc fide i cape, 
Continue dcxtromP 

(Let us unite souls, receive this pledge of faith, grasp 
the right hand.) 

We can hardly imagine a more perfect token of love, 
affection or friendship than this of right hands clasped 
and the names of giver and receiver. We commend it 
to loving friends and jewellers. 

This joining of right hands appears upon ancient 
English marriage-rings. Here is one, with its motto, 
The Nazarene : 




>M^J£MM1M2M 



A silver wedding-ring, dug up at Somerton Castle, 
Lincolnshire, has a poesy very common in former times : 

" I love you, my sweet dear heart. 
Go I pray you please my love."* 

There is a marriage gold ring of the time of Ei chard the 
Second of England, having a French motto, translated, 
Be of good heart, and bearing the figure of St. Catharine 
with her wheel, emblematical of good fortune, and St. 
Margaret, to whom Catholics address their devotions for 
safe delivery in childbirth. f The author has seen an old 

* Gent's Mag. vol. Ixxr. p 801, 927. 
t lb. vol. lx. 0. S. 798, 1001. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 221 

American ring, in the possession of a young man, whose 
grandfather presented it on his wedding day to his wife. 
It has a piece of jet set in it and is cut into raised an- 
gular facets. On the inside is engraved : 

" First love Christ, that died for thee , 
Next to him, love none but me" 

1 . A. (jr. 

. John Dunton, a London bookseller and who is men- 
tioned in the Dunciad, describes, in his autobiography, 
his wedding-ring : as having two hearts united upon it 
and this poesy : 

" God saw thee 
Most fit for me." 

This would not seem to have attached to his second 
wife ; for she left him and wrote in one of her letters, 
"I and all good people think you never married me for 
love, but for my money." 

Dr. John Thomas, who was Bishop of Lincoln in 1753, 
married four times. The motto or poesy on the wedding- 
ring at his fourth marriage was : 

" If I survive, 
I'll make tlieni five." 

This Rev. Dr. John Thomas was a man of genial 
humor. He used to tell a story of his burying a body ; 
and a woman came " and pulled me," said he, " by the 
sleeve in the middle of the service. i Sir, sir, I want to 
speak to you.' 'Prythee,' says I, ' woman, wait till I 
have done.' 4 No, sir, I must speak to you immediately.' 
' Why then, what is the matter V 6 Why sir,' says she, 
f you are burying a man who died of the small-pox next 
to my poor husband, who never had it' " 



222 HISTORY AND POETRY 

§ 19. Heroes, philosophers, poets — indeed, men of all 
classes leave remembrances in the shape of rings, ihe 
will of Washington contains this : " To my sisters-in-law 
Hannah Washington and Mildred Washington, to my 
friends Eleanor Stuart, Hannah Washington of Fairfield 
and Elizabeth Washington of Hayfield, I give each a 
mourning ring of the value of one hundred dollars. 
These bequests are not made for the intrinsic value of 
them, but as mementoes of my esteem and regard." 
Shakspeare bequeathes such tokens to several friends — 
among them, to his brother players, whom he calls "my 
poor fellows" — " twenty shillings eight pence apiece to 
buy them rings." Pope bequeathed sums of five pounds 
to friends, who were to lay them out in rings. This great 
poet was no admirer of funerals that blackened all the 
way or of gorgeous tombs : " As to my body, my will is 
that it be buried near the monument of my dear parents 
at Twickenham, with the addition after the words films 
fecit of these only, et sihi : Qui dbiit anno 17-, cetaiis ■ — : 
and that it be carried to the grave by six of the poorest 
men of the parish, to each of whom I order a suit of 
gray coarse cloth as mourning." 

The affection which Dr. Johnson bore to the memory 
of his wife was a pretty point in his heavy character : 
" March 28, 1753. I kept this day as the anniversary of 
my Letty's death, with prayer and tears in the morning. 
In the evening I prayed for her conditionally, if it were 
lawful." Her wedding-ring, when she became his wife, 
was, after her death, preserved by him as long as he 
lived with an affectionate care in a little round wooden 
box and in the inside of which he pasted a slip of paper 
thus inscribed bv him in fair characters : 



OF FINGER- EINGS. 223 

" Eheu ! 

Eliz. Johnson 

Nupta Jul. 9M73G, 

Mortua, eheu .' 
Mart. 17°, 1752."* 

Husbands can love, where friends may see nothing to 
admire : Mrs. Johnson has been summed up as " per- 
petual illness and perpetual opium."f 

Lord Eldon wore a mourning ring for his wife. In 
his will we find this : " And I direct that I may be 
buried in the same tomb at Kingston in which my most 
beloved wife is buried and as near to her remains as pos- 
sible ; and I desire that the ring which I wear on my finger 
may be put with my body into my coffin and be buried 
with me."| 

The last gift of Tom Moore's mother to him was her 
wedding-ring: "Have been preparing my dear mother 
for my leaving her, now that I see her so much better. 
She is quite reconciled to my going ; and said this morn- 
ing, ' E~ow, my dear Tom, don't let yourself be again 
alarmed about me in this manner, nor hurried away from 
your house and business.' She then said she must, be- 
fore I left her this morning, give me her wedding-ring 
as her last gift ; and, accordingly sending for the little 
trinket-box in which she kept it, she, herself, put the 
ring on my finger. "§ 

The poet Gray was the possessor of trinkets ; and, 
perhaps, we may refer these to the " effeminacy" and 
" visible fastidiousness" mentioned in Temple's Life, 
(adopted by Mason.) In his will, the poet gives an 

* Boswell's Johnson, 280, (Murray's ed.) t Piozzi. 

X Twiss's Life of Eldon. § Moore's Diary, 173. 



221 HISTORY AND 1'OETEY 

amount of stock to Richard Stoneliewer, and adds : 
" and I beg liis acceptance of one of my diamond 
rings," while to Dr. Thomas Wharton he bequeaths 
£500 — and, " I desire him also to accept of one of my 
diamond rings." He bequeaths his watches, rings, etc., 
to his cousins Mary Antrobus and Dorothy Comyns, to 
be equally and amicably shared between them. 

§ 21. On the 1st of March, 1851, the ship Powhattan 
sailed from Havre for New- York, with two hundred and 
fifty passengers. Not far from Barnegat Inlet she became 
a wreck, so complete that not a vestige of her reached 
land. The passengers were seen to cling to the bulwarks 
and, then, drop off by fifties; her captain, through his 
trumpet, could be heard to implore attention to them; 
while the sea crushed and clashed all to death on the 
fretted beach. The clothing of one of the victims, who 
was not more than twenty years of age, showed her to 
have belonged to the wealthv class of Germans. She 
was beautiful even as she lay in death dabbled with 
sea-weed and scum. Upon her fingers were two rings ; 
one, plain and the other had a heart attached to it. 
They were marked P. S. and B. S. 1851. This we 
gather from a fleeting newspaper. While the mind 
sighs as it leaves the corpse to its shallow, seaside, fo- 
reign and premature grave, a curiosity is awakened by 
the rings and the attendant emblem. The elate shows 
them to be very late gifts. Were these tokens of affec- 
tion from brother and sister — for one heart might well 
do for both — and who placed them upon that now cold 
hand, then glowing with an affection that throbbed from 
under those rings? Or, was this young creature on her 



OF FIUGEE-EINGS. 



991 



way to lier youthful husband, who had come before and 
built up a home and whose betrothal was shown in the 
heart, while the plain ring had made them one before God 
and the church and who was watching for her and, in 
fancy, had, through day dreams and in night watching, 
fancied the vessel sweep into port and the hand, that 
lovingly wore his gifts, wave a recognition ? It may be 
that father and mother were the donors, with a blessing 
and a prayer and the added almost certainty of thought 
that she who received with a last kiss, would long sur- 
vive parents to reverence the tokens, hallow their me- 
mory and think of Fatherland ! Oh, how much of fact, 
of poetry, of sadness may crowd around a little ring ! ! 

§ 22. We can hardly meet with a prettier token and il- 
lustration of affection than is to be found upon an ancient 
silver ring. It has a pelican feeding three young ones 
from the life-current oozing out of her breast ; with the 
words : Their Mother. There is but little doubt that 
this was one of three rings given by a mother 
to her three children. The pelican is made an 
emblem of charity ; and Hackluyt, in his 
Yoyages, speaks of the " JPellicam" — " which 
is fain to be the lovingst bird that is, which 
rather than her young should want, will spare her heart- 
blood." In no form or fashion could a mother's love 
have been more beautifully and permanently displayed 
— pure as the metal, perfect as the emblem. It makes 
us feel that love is indestructible ; that it came from 
Heaven and returns thither. No matter what may have 
been the sorrows, the cares and the long-suffering of that 
mother ; no matter though her heart dances no longer to 




226 HISTORY AND POETRY 

the music of her children's voices ; no matter what were 
the earthly trials of those loved children ; no matter 
though their home-nest has been torn down or that the 
snow of the world covers where the wings of the parent 
bird were spread ; no matter though the grave has taken 
all, save this illustration of a divine emanation : — we feel 
that such love could not die and the throbbing from the. 
poet's soul comes upon our memory : 

" Oh when the mother meets on high 

The babe she lost 

Hath she not then, for pains and fears, 

The day of woe, the watchful night, 
For all her sorrows, all her tears, 

An overpayment or delight !"* 

§ 23. This love between mother and child, from its un- 
dying purity, is always a pleasant thing to trace and to fol- 
low. In the Household Words,f a work in which there is 
more of usefulness, pleasure and beauty than in any other 
modern book, a ring plays a pretty part in a ballad of the 
youthful knight, Bran of Brittany. He was " wounded 
sore," and "in a dungeon tower, helpless he wept in the 
foeman's power." 

" find a messenger true to me, 
To bear me a letter across the sea. 
A messenger true they brought him there, 
And the young knight warned him thus with care : 
Lay now that dress of thine aside, 
And in beggar's weeds thy service hide, 
And take my ring, my ring of gold, 
And wrap it safe in some secret fold, 

* A gold ring, bearing a pelican feeding her young, was found at Bury St. 
Edmunds, England. (Gent.'s Mag. xxxix. 532, N.S.) The crest of the house 
of Lumley, Earls of Scarborough, is a pelican in her nest feeding her young. 

+ Vol. viii. p. 179. 



OF FINGEE-EIiXGS. 227 

But, once at my mother's castle gate, 
That ring will gain admittance straight. 
And ! if she comes to ransom me, 
Then high let the white flag hoisted be ; 
But if she comes not — ah, well-a-day ! 
The night-black flag at the mast display.* 
When the messenger true to Leon came, 
At supper sat the high-born clame : 
With cups of gold and royal fare, 
And the harpers merrily harping there. 
I kneel to thee, right noble dame ; 
This ring will show from whom I came. 
And he who gave me that same ring, 
Bade me in haste this letter bring. 
Oh ! harpers, harpers, cease your song ; 
The grief at my heart is sharp and strong. 
Why did they this from his mother hide ? 
In a dungeon lies my only pride ! 
quick make ready a ship for me, 
This night I'll cross the stormy sea." 

The ballad goes on to show how young Bran, from 
his bed, at morn, at noon, at vesper, asked the warder 
whether he saw a ship ; and when, at last, the warder 
says he observes one, he couples it with the falsehood 
that the color of its flag is black. 

" When the downcast knight that answer heard, 
He asked no more, he spake no word. 

* lias not the idea of this Had: flag been taken from the black sail referred 
to by Plutarch in his life of Theseus? When the latter was to go with the 
Athenian youths to attempt the destruction of the Minotaur, a ship was pre- 
pared with a black sail, as carrying them to certain ruin. But when Theseus 
encouraged his father iEgeus by his confidence of success against the Mino- 
taur, he gave another sail, a white one, to the pilot, ordering him, if he brought 
Theseus safe back, to hoist the white ; but if not, to sail with the black one 
in token of his misfortune. When Theseus returned, the pilot forgot to hoist 
the white sail and iEgeus destroyed himself. 



228 HISTORY AND POETEY 

He turned to the wall his face so wan, 

And shook in the breath of the Mighty One !" 

The mother touches the strand ; hears a death-bell ; 
asks of a gray-haired man ; speeds wildly to the tower : 

" At the foot of the tower, to the gaoler grim, 
She sobbed aloud and she called to him : 
! open the gates (my son ! my son !) 
open the gates (my only son !) 
They opened the gates ; no word they said : 
Before her there her son lay dead. 
In her arms she took him so tenderly, 
And laid her down — never more rose she !" 

The ballad then describes an oak, with lofty head, 
whereon the birds gather at night : 

" And amidst them comes ever croaking low, 
With a young dark raven, an aged crow. 
Wearily onward they flap their way 
With drooping wings, soaked through with spray, 
As they had come from a far countrye ; 
As they had flown o'er a stormy sea. 
And the birds they sing so sweet and clear 
That the waves keep very still to hear. 
They all sing out in a merry tone, 
They all sing together — save two alone. 
With mournful voice ever croaking low, 
Sing, happy birds ! says the aged crow, 
Blest little birds ! sing, for you may, 
Ycu did not die from home far away.'" 

How this noble ballad would have stirred the hearts 
of the authors of " The Lay of the Last Minstrel " and 

of " Christabel " ! 

§ 24: Authors of fiction, from early times, have made 



OF FINGES-EIN6S. 229 

use of rings for their scenes. Sliakspeare not unfre- 
quently introduces them; indeed the most interesting 
portion of Cymbeline is worked up through the wager 
of a ring as to the honor of the heroine. Imogen, in 
taking leave of Posthumus, says : 

" Look here, love : 



This diamond was my mother's ; take it, heart ; 
But keep it till you woo another wife, 
When Imogen is dead. 

Posthumus. How ! how ! another ? 
Tou gentle gods, give me but this I have, 
And sear up my embracements from a next 
"With bonds of death ! Remain thou here, 

[Putting on the ring,) 
"While sense can keep it on." 

And he, then, exchanges for it, " a manacle of love," a 
bracelet, placing it upon her arm, that "fairest priso- 
ner." Iachimo induced Posthumus to wager this ring, 
which he esteemed " more than the world enjoys" — 
but it is unnecessary to go further : for who has not read 
Sliakspeare 1 

§ 25. Roman iron rings, wrought with much care and 
having precious stones, but minute enough for a child, 
have been found. One or two of them are mentioned and 
illustrated in Oaylus,* who, no doubt rightly, 
considers they were intended for the finger of a 
domestic deity or household god. 
Romans clung to their home deities; and this 
is the best part of their character. One of the most 
beautiful of the antique draped figures, cut upon a 
signet, represents a woman contemplating a household 

* Vol. ii. 310, 314. 




230 HISTORY AND POETRY 

god,* "a symbol of that domestic affection which the 
ancients, exalted almost blamelessly, into an object of 
divine homage, "f 




It was on this particular gem that Croly wrote these 
charming lines : 

" Domestic love ! not in proud palace halls 
Is often seen thy beauty to abide ; 
Thy dwelling is in lowly cottage walls, 
That in the thickets of the woodbine hide ; 
With hum of bees around, and from the spring, 
Shining along thro' banks with harebells dyed ; 
And many a bird to warble on the wing, 
When morn her saffron robe o'er heaven and earth doth fling. 

! love of loves !— to thy white hand is given 
Of earthly happiness the golden key ! 

* It has been called Calphurnia consulting the Penates on the fate of Ca?sar. 
t Dagley's Gems, p. 6. 



OF FINGEE-EINGS. 231 

" Thine are the joyous hours of winter's even, 
When the babes cling around then- father's knee ; 
And thine the voice that, on the midnight sea, 
Melts the rude mariner with thoughts of home, 
Peopling the gloom with all he longs to see. 
Spirit ! I've built a shrine ; and thou hast come ; 
And on its altar closed — for ever closed thy plume 1" 

Gifts of rings by lovers have always been common ; 
but the intimate relation between husband and wile 
brings toils, duties and sacrifices which generally charm 
off ordinary love tokens. It is comforting, however, 
when the husband can look to the past, to the present, to 
the future with sentiments like those embraced in the fol- 
lowing beautiful lines in connection with the gift of a ring : 

" TO MRS. , WITH A RING. 



• ' Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed,' — 
So, sixteen years ago, I said — 
Behold another ring — for what ? 
To wed thee o'er again ? Why not ? 
With that first ring I married youth, 
Grace, beauty, innocence and truth, 
Taste long aclmir'd, sense long rever'd 
And all my Mary then appeared. 
If she, by merit since disclosed, 
Prove twice the woman I supposed : 
I plead that double merit now 
To justify a double vow. 
Here then to-day (with faith as sure, 
With ardor as intense and pure, 
As when amidst the rites divine 
I took thy troth and plighted mine) 
To thee, sweet girl, my second ring, 
A token and a pledge I bring, 
With this I wed till death us part 
Thy riper virtues to my heart ; 



26'J, HISTORY AND POETRY 

Those virtues which, before untried, 
The wife has added to the bride ; 
Those virtues, whose progressive claim, 
Endearing wedlock's very name. 
My soul enjoys, my song approves, 
For conscience' sake, as well as love's. 
For why ? — They show me hour by hour 
Honor's high thought, affection's power, 
Discretion's deed, sound judgment's sentence, 
And teach me all things — but repentance."* 

And there is a charm and gentleness about the fol- 
lowing lines which' Dr. Drennan addressed to his wife, 
with a gift of a ring : 

" Emblem of happiness ! not bought nor sold ; 
Accept this modest ring of virgin gold. 
Love, in this small, but perfect, circle trace ; 
And duty, in its soft but strict embrace. 
Plain, precious, pure, as best becomes the wife ; 
Yet firm to bear the frequent rubs of life. 
Connubial life disdains a fragile toy, 
Which rust can tarnish and a touch destroy ; 
Nor much admires what courts the general gaze, 
The dazzling diamond's meretricious blaze, 
That hides, with glare, the anguish of a heart, 
By nature hard, but polished bright by art. 
More to thy taste the ornament that shows 
Domestic bliss and, without glaring, glows, 
Whose gentle pressure serves to keep the mind 
To all correct ; to one discreetly kind — 
Of simple elegance the unconscious charm ; 
The holy amulet to keep from harm. 

* We do not know who is the author of these lines. They appeared, 
anonymously in the Gentlemen's Magazine (London) for 1780, vol. 1. Old 
Series, 337, and it is merely said that they are by the " writer of lines on 
presenting a knife and verses on a former wedding day." 



OF FINGER- RINGS. 2od 

To guard, at once and consecrate, the shrine — 

Take this dear pledge : — it makes and keeps thee mine. 

§ 26. There is an interesting story in the Gesta lioma- 
norum* (indeed the whole work is full of pleasing mat- 
ter) entitled the judgment of Solomon. It is often 
represented in that illumination which in the ancient 
manuscripts of the French translation of the Bible by 
Guiars des Moulins is prefixed to the Proverbs of Solo- 
mon, although the story itself does not occur in that 
Bible. It appears to have been a great favorite in the 
middle ages ; and was often related from the pulpit. A 
king, in some domestic difference with his wife, had been 
told by her that one only of her three sons was a true 
offspring, but which of them was so she refused to dis- 
cover. This gave him much uneasiness ; and his death 
soon afterwards approaching, he called his children to- 
gether ; and declared, in the presence of witnesses, that 
he left a ring, which had very singular properties, to 
him that should be found to be his lawful son. On his 
death a dispute arose about the ring between the youths 
— and it was at length agreed to refer its decision to 
the King of Jerusalem. He immediately ordered that 
the dead body of the father should be taken up and tied 
to a tree ; that each of the sons should shoot an arrow 
at it and that he who penetrated the deepest should have 
the ring. The eldest shot first and the arrow went far 
into the body ; the second shot also and deeper than the 
other. The youngest son stood at a distance and wept 
bitterly; but the king said to him : " Young man, take 
your arrow and shoot as your brothers have done." He 

* Donee's Illustrations of Shakspeare, uiO. 



234: FINGER-RINGS. 

answered, " Far be it from me to commit so great a crime. 
I would not for the whole world disfigure the body of 
my own father." The king said : " Without doubt you 
are his son, and the others are changelings : to you, 
therefore, I adjudge the ring." 



Here the author closes his " Dactylotheca" or casket 
of rings. 

Metaphorically speaking, he fears it has been discovered 
that he does not wear a ring of power j and that no tal- 
ismanic ring is in his possession. And it may be that 
some constrained position in which the writer has kept 
his readers, will allow them to desire the use of cramp 
rings for relief. If so, he would willingly " creep to 
cross" to succor them : provided the ending of this essay 
did not answer that purpose. 

One thing the author will hope ; and it is this : that his 
readers and he have fashioned the interesting token of 
friendship a gimmal ring ; and if it be so, then they will 
pass from this work with the idea that they have one part 
of such ring, while the writer may proudly hold to the 
other, until some future essay shall bring author and 
friends and the twin hoops of the gimmal together again. 
With such a token upon his hand, he can waive a fare- 
well. 



INDEX. 



A. 

Abraxas stones, 95. 
Ackmetchet, marriage at, 199. 
Agate, its supposed magical andmedi 

cal powers, 104. 
Agnes, St., priest placing ring on 

finger of statue, 141. 
Alilstan, ring of, 39. 
Aix-la-Chapelle, ring connected with 

the founding of, 138. 
Alderman's thumb-ring, 90. 
Alexander's ring, 20, 66, 156. 
Amethyst, its supposed magical and 

medical powers, 100. 
Amulet-rings found at Eltham, 120 : 

at Coventry, 121 ; in antique urns, 

121 ; worn by physicians, 122 ; Dano- 

Saxon amulet, 136 ; amulet against 

storms, 136. 
Andrea of Sicily and Jerusalem, 118. 
Anglo-Saxon rings and workmen, 25. 
Anne, Countess Dowager of Pem- 
broke, 91. 
Anne of Brittany sends ring to James 

IV, of Scotland, 158. 
Annulus promibus, 201. 
Anselm, investiture by ring, 4; and 

his miracles, 81. 
Antioehus Epiphanes, ring of, 66. 
Apis, sacred Egyptian bull, 32. 
Arabian princesses, wearing rings with 

little bells attached, 90. 
Archbishop's investiture by ring, 80. 
Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, 126. " 
Arnulph's dream about a ring, 81. 
Artery, supposed, in the fourth finger, 

47,206. 
Augustus, ring of, 67, 156. 



Bagaley's account of Stanley, seventh 

EarlbfDerbv, 181. 
Baker, Sir Richard, 141. 
Balassius, (Ruby,) 102. 
Belt, ring in the form of, 37. 



Bertie, Richard, receives diamond ring 
from King of France, 159. 

Betrothal rings : Grecian, 196 ; in Es- 
thonia, 197; among the Copts, 19S; 
ceremony attendant on betrothal, 
199, 201; betrothal rings in Ger- 
many, 200. 

Bishops, investiture by ring, 80, S3; 
sealed with ring's in early times, 85; 

" Blood-stone" of Jeffreys, 184. 

Bloody Baker, 141. 

"Blue Ring," 174. 

Borgia, Csesar, his poisoned ring, 144. 

"Bot," 137. 

Bovle, Richard, (Great Earl of Cork,) 
160. 

Brand, Miss v., her vision, 125. 

Bran of Brittany, 226. 

Brian Borholme, 147. 

Britons, rings worn by, 24, 25. 

British Museum, rings in, 34. 

Bronze rings, seldom used by Egvp- 
tians, 26. 

Bronze ring, widening by pressure, 

Bucentaur, the galley used on the Doge 

marrying the sea, 73. 
Bull (Apis) on a ring, 32. 
Bvron, his mother's wedding-ring, 

189. 

C. 
Caesar's ring, 156. 
Caius Marius, 26. 
California ring presented to President 

Pierce, 43. 
Cameo, its origin, 156. 
Canute, King,"discovery of his tomb, 

body and ring, 70. 
Carbuncle, 29. 
Cardinal's ring, 83. 
Carev, Robert, Earl of Monmouth, 

takes the "Blue Ring" to James on 

Queen Elizabeth's decease, 174. 
Catacombs of Rome, 39. 
Cats cut upon Egyptian rings, 38. 



0,o i 



INDEX. 



Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, 49. 

Chains of criminals made into rings to 
cure diseases, 136. 

Chalcedony, its supposed magical 
power, 106. 

Charlemagne, story connected with 
founding Aix-la-Chapelle, 138. 

Charles L, supposed ring of this mo- 
narch given to a boy, 177 ; his ring 
used by Sir Philip Warwick, 178 ; 
mourning rings o± this king, 179 ; 
his hair used for rings, 180. 

Charles IT., Duchess of Portsmouth 
takes diamond rings from his hand 
when on his death-bed, 183. 

Charles VIII. of France, 145. 

Charm rings, 93. 

Cheops, ring of, 149. 

Childeric, his tomb, body, ring, 71. 

Christians, rings of early Christians, 
39, 40. 

Christians wearing talismanic rings, 
119; symbolical figures on the rings 
of early Christians, 203 ; Christian 
marriage-ring copied from Eomans, 
205. 

Coffin-nails or screws made into rings 
to cure king's evil, 132. 

Collar, pliable ring in the form of, 37. 

College of Navarre, gives ring to 
Crichton, 188. 

Commonwealth of England, inclined 
to abolish the ring in marriages, 
208. 

Convulsions cured by silver rings, 132. 

Copts, betrothal ring used by them, 198. 

Coral, its supposed magical power, 107. 

Cork, Earl of, 160. 

Cornelian rings found near the Pyra- 
mids, 26. 

Cornelian, its magical and medical 
powers, 100, 105. 

Coronation rings, 67. 

Council of Trent, in relation to mar- 
riage, 195, 204. 

Cramp rings, 128. 

Cranmer using the ring of Henry VIII. 
before the Council, 72. 

Creeping to cross, 130. 

Crichton (the Admirable), ring given 
to him by the College of Navarre, 188. 

Criminals, chains of, made into rings 
to cure diseases, 136. 

Croly's lines on a gem representing a 
woman contemplating a household 
god, 230. 

Cupid and Psyche, on a Eoman signet, 
214. 

Cupid with butterflies, on a ring, 144. 



D. 

Dactylornancy, or divination by rings, 

111. 
Dactylotheca, Eoman name for cases 

containing rings, 22, 155. 
Dano-Saxon amulet, 136. 
Darnley's ring, 173. 
Death's-head rings, 30. 
Devereux, Earl of, ring given by Queen 

Elizabeth to, 162. 
De Vesci, King John's bad conduct 

towards the wife of, 157. 
Diamond, 41 ; on swivel in ring, 49 ; 

its magical and medical powers, 

100, 101. 
Divination by rings, 111, 112. 
Doge marrying the sea, 73 ; his ring 

of office, 75. 
" Dolzbote," 138. 
Domestic deities of the Eomans, small 

iron rings used for, 229. 
Drennan, Dr., his lines to his wife with 

a ring, 232. 
Dschemid, said to have introduced the 

ring, 16. 
Dundee, ring in memory of the trreat 

Dundee, 187. 

E. 
Edward, St., ring of, 128. 
Edward the Confessor's ring, 157. 
Egyptians, their rings, 17, 21, 26, 27, 

^34, 35 ; on what lingers worn, 47, 

48 ; no evidence that they used a 

marriage-ring, 196. 
Eldon, Lord, desired his ring to be 

buried with him, 225. 
Eleusinian mysteries, rings given to 

the initiated, 96. 
Elizabeth of Poland, talismanic ring 

given by her to her son Andrea, 118. 
Elizabeth, Queen, medicinal ring sent 

to her by Lord Chancellor Ilatton, 

124; ring given by her to Essex, 

162; her death, 164; ring given by 

her to Mary of Scotland,"l'6S. 
Elk's horn, piece of, worn in ring to 

cure epilepsy, 135. 
Emerald, its supposed medical and 
• magical powers, 100, 103. 
Epilepsy cured by wearing ring, 133, 

135. 
Essex-ring, 162, et seq. 
Esthonia, betrothal rings in, 197. 
Eternity, ring an emblem of, 21. 
Ethel wo ulf, ring of, 156. 
Etruscan rings, "35, 36. 
Evil eye, charm-rings to act against it, 

93. 



INDEX. 



ZOi 



Execustus, his two enchanted rings, 
112. 

F. 

Fingers on which rings are worn, 45, 
46, 67, 86, 202 ; finger for betrothal 
ring, 201, 202; finger for wedding 
ring, 206. 

Fish, rings found in, 59. 

" Fisherman's King," 77. 

Fits, cured by ring, 132, 183. 

G. 

Gallienus frightening a dishonest jew- 
eller, 57. 

Galvanic rings, 135. 

Gambler's rings, 145. 

Gauls, rings used by, 24. 

German betrothal ring, 200. 

Gesta Romanorum, story from, 233. 

Gibbet, iron from it made into rings 
to cure diseases, 136. 

Gimmal ring, 192. 

Gimmow (or Gimmal) ring, 192. 

Godwin, Earl, 11, 12. 

Gold rings, generally used by the 
Egyptians, 26 ; Boman gold rings, 27. 

Gray bequeaths his rings, 220. 

Greeks, inscriptions ontheir rings, 36 ; 
had the wedding and betrothal ring, 
195, 196. 

Greek urns, rings in, 18. 

Gresham, Sir Thomas, his gimmal 
ring, 194. 

Gyges, ring of, 126. 

H. 

Hand, on which hand rings are worn, 
45, 47 ; with thumb and two fore- 
fingers extended, 83. 

Hannibal's ring, 154. 

Hathaway, Anne, lines to, (note,) 11. 

Hatton, Chancellor, sending medicinal 
ring to Queen Elizabeth, 124. 

Hebrews, wore a number of rings, 49 ; 
as to their using a marriage-ring, 
196-7. 

Heliogabalus, never wore the same 
ring twice, 46. 

Henry II. of England, his tomb, body, 
ring, 71. 

Heraldry, ring in, 58. 

Herbert's enigma, 62. 

Household gods of the Eomans, small 
iron rings for, 229 ; Croly's lines on 
a gem representing a woman con- 
templating a household deity, 230. 

Hyacinth, its supposed medical and 
magical powers, 102. 

Hynd Horn, ballad of, 115. 



I. J. 

Indian Brahmins, 95. 

Innocent HI. ordered the celebration 
of marriage through the church, 195. 

Inscriptions on Greek and Roman 
rings, 36. 

Investiture by ring and staff, 80, 81, 82. 

Ireland, diamond found in, 41. 

Iron, rings of, 26, 27, 94, 229 ; iron 
from gibbets made into rings to cure 
diseases, 136 ; iron rings containing 
the Prussian maiden's hair, 191. 

Ivory rings worn by the Egyptians, 27. 

Jacinth, "its supposed medical and 
magical powers, 102. 

James IV. of Scotland, receiving a 
turquoise ring from Anne of Brit- 
tany, 158. 

Jasper, its supposed superior healing 
and magical powers, 99, 105. 

Jeffreys and his "Blood-stone," 184. 

Jewish marriage, and use of ring at it, 
208. 

Joan of Naples, 118. 

John, King of England, his bad con- 
duct in relation to the wife of Do 
Vesci, 157. 

Johnson, Dr., his care of his wife's 
wedding-ring, 222. 

Joseph, ring given by Pharaoh to, 66, 
151. 

Judah and Tamar, 20. 

K. 

Kean the elder, his ring, 189. 

Kerouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, 
takes two diamond rings from the 
hand of Charles II. when in his 
death-throes, 183. 

Key, ring with a key attached, 196. 

King's evil cured by ring made from 
coffin-nails or screws, 132. 

Kings of Scotland, ring used at their 
coronation, bequeathed by Cardinal 
York to Prince Eegent, 188. 



Lacedemonians, as to their inventing 

seal-ring's, 17. 
Lambert Linkin, ballad of, 114. 
Law of rings, 50. 
Lawyers in Eome, clients presenting 

them with rings, 23. 
Lines with a ring, 232. 
L'Isle, Lord, 158. 
Lituus, 23. 

Louis IX. of France, 58. 
Love's Telegraph, 54. 



238 



INDEX. 



M. 

Mad-stone, (note,) 109. 

Madoc's ring, 157. 

Magnet in a ring, 31. 

Marriage, its ceremony through the 
Church, ordained by Innocent III., 
195; marriage at Ackmetchet, 199. 

Marriage-ring, Grecian and Roman, 
195, 1.98, 216 ; used at Ackmetchet, 
199 ; marriage-rings had inscrip- 
tions, others a sealing part, 215, 220, 
221 ; ancient one of silver with in- 
scription, 220. 

Mary, Queen of Scots, talismanic ring 
offered to her by Lord Euthven, 119 ; 
her nuptial ring, 163, 170; portrait 
of Mary in a ring at Bolsover Castle, 
171; a ring (one portion) sent to 
her by Queen Elizabeth, 171. 

Matilda, wife of the Conqueror, her 
tomb, body, ring, 71. 

Matrons of Warsaw, part with their 
rings to coin into ducats for Polish 
struggle, 190. 

Medicinal rings, 122, 123, 124, 136. 

Mel Amoves, upon a ring, 144. 

Mexican officers' rings, 154. 

Michaelis, (physician,) had medical 
ring made of tooth of sea-horse, 136. 

Mithridates, ring of, 155. 

Money in the form of rings, 13. 

Months, Polish idea of 'their being 
under the influence of precious 
stones, 56. 

Moore, his mother's gift of her wed- 
ding-ring, 223. 

N. 

Name-rings, 55. 

Navarre, "College of, gives ring to 
Crichton, 188. 

Nelson, memorial rings of, 188. 

Nero's ring, 156. 

Nottingham, Countess of, and her con- 
nection with the Essex ring, 163. 

Newton, Sir Isaac, his magnet-ring, 
31 ; his tooth set in a ring, 1S9. 



O'Neils of Ulster, and Turlough Lyn- 
noch, 190. 

Opal, its supposed medical and magi- 
cal powers, 105. 

Ordeal of touch, 137. 

Order of the King, 51. 

Orpine plant, inserted in rings, 215. 



Palatius, (Ruby,) 102. 



Pallas, freed-man of Claudius, ring of, 

19. 
Papal ring, 76, 78. 
Pearls, 28. 

! Pelican and young upon a ring, 225. 
Pembroke, Anne, Countess Dowager 

of, 91. 
Persians, their seal-rings, 52, 67; 
bridegroom makes a present of a 
ring, 198. 
Pharaoh's ring given to Joseph, 66, 

151. 
Physicians' rings, 49, 122. 
Pierce, Franklin, ring from California 

presented to, 43. 
Pio, Albert, anecdote of, 49. 
| Pius II., ring of, 79. 
Plague-rings, 136. 
J Poison carried in rings, 38, 154. 
! Pompeii, marriage-ring found at, 196. 
iPompey's ring, 155. 
| Pope's ring, 17, 78. 
i Pope the poet, bequeathed rings, 222. 
Porcelain rings worn by the Egyp- 

tians, 27. 
Portsmouth, Duchess of, her taking 
diamond rings from the hand oi 
Charles II. in the death throes, 183. 
Power, rings connected with, 65. 
Powhattan, (ship,) 224. 
Prometheus, and his wearing the first 

ring, 15, 16. 
Prussian maiden and the sacrifice of 

her. hair, 190. 
Puritans set against the wedding-ring, 
208. 

R. 

Richard II., directions in his will, 71. 

Riddle on a ring, 62. 

Ring-dropping, 145. 

Ring-money, 13. 

Roman Catholic marriages, 208. 

Roman flute players, rings worn by, 
23. 

Roman lawyers, rings given to, by 
clients, 23. 

Roman urns, rings in, 19. 

Roman rings, 36 ; marriage-rings, 195. 

Reman senators and their rings, 66. 

Roman slave, 146. 

Roman knights, 24, 66, 90. 

Ruby, its supposed medical and mag- 
ical powers, 102. 

Rubric, marriage in the Episcopal 
Church governed by, 204, 205. 

Ruthven, Lord, offers talismanic ring 
to Mary, Queen of Scots, 119. 

Rush-rings, 215. 



INDEX 



239 



Sackvil, Duke of Dorset, ring given to 
him by King James, 175. 

St. Anne, ring of, 214. 

Samothracian talismanic ring, 94. 

Sapphire, its supposed medical and 
magical powers, 104. 

Scarabasus, form of seal, 17. 

Sea-horse's tooth, Michaelis's medical 
ring made of, 136. 

Seal-rings, when first used by ladies, 
26. 

Sebert, his tomb, body, ring, 70. 

Serjeants at law, their rings and the 
ceremony relating to their presenta- 
tion, 86. 

Sessa, ring found at, 216. 

Shakspeare's signet-ring, 10, 161; be- 
queathed rings to his brother play- 
ers, 222. 

Shoes, rings with shape of soles of 
shoes, 24. 

Signets with Sanscrit inscriptions, 17 ; 
importance given to signets in Eng- 
land, 53. 

Size of rings, Egyptian, 31, 32, S3. 

Slave, Eoman, 146. 

Solomon's magic ring, 113. 

Sonnet, by Davison, 195. 

Sore cured by touch of ring-finger, 
132, 133. 

Spain, the power of a girl to compel 
marriage when a ring has been 
given, 198. 

Stanley, seventh Earl of Derby, his 
character and last gift of rings', 181. 

Statues, rings on, 22,' 23, 24. 

Sterling's story of the " Onvx Ems," 
116. 

Storms, amulet against, 136. 

" Sty" on the eye cured by rubbing 
with wedding-ring, 132. 

SubarrJiation, the delivering of ring 
and other gifts, 203. 

Substances from which rings are form- 
ed, 26. 

Suphis, ring of, 149. 

Suffolk, Duchess of, 159. 

Symbolum, a term used for a ring, 13. 

Syrian legend, 115. 



Talismanic rings, 93 ; their form, 96. 



" Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed," 
231. 

Theseus, 14. 

Thieves' rings, 145. 

Thumb-rings, 90, 91, 92. 

Toacl-stone, 107. 

Topaz, its supposed medical and magi- 
cal powers, 104. 

Trau (betrothal) ring in Germany, 200. 

Trent, Council of, 195, 204. 

Tristram, had a mystical ring, 127. 

Trophy, emblem on rings, 155. 

Turlough Lynnoch, his" ring, 190. 

Turquoise, its supposed medical and 
magical powers, 106 ; turquoise ring 
sent by the Queen of Louis XII. to 
James IV. of Scotland, 158. 

U. V. 

Ungulus, Oscan word for ring, 13. 
Urns, rings in Greek urns, 18. 
Urns, rings in Eoman urns, 19. 
Value of some rings, 54. 
Venus, story of placing ring on brazen 

statue of this goddess, 139. 
Virgin, the, story of placing ring on 

finger of statue, 141. 

W. 

Walpole's poesy upon a ring, 63. 

Warsaw, matrons of, give their wed- 
ding-rings to be coined in aid of the 
Eolish struggle, 190. 

Warts, taken'away by ring touching 
them, 132. 

Warwick, Sir Philip, intrusted with 
use of the ring of Charles I., 178. 

Washington bequeathed rings, 229. 

Wedding-ring touching wart to take 
it away, 132; rubbing on "sty" to 
cure it, ib. ; Grecian and Eoman 
wedding-rings, 195, 196; gold-wire 
rings given away at weddings, 213, 
215 ; ancient silver ring, 220. 

W histle connected with a ring, 38. 

W T ire rings of gold given away at wed- 
dings, 213. 

Wound cured by touch of ring, 133. 

T. 

York, Cardinal, his bequest of the ring 
used by kings of Scotland on their 
coronation, 188. 



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great task, are undisputed ; and it is to his well-filled volumes that the historical stu- 
dent must now resort for copious and authentic facts, and luminous views respecting 
this most romantic and wonderful period in the annals of the Old World." — Boston 
Daily Courier. 



MARMADUKE WYVIL. 

An Historical Romance of 1651, by Henry W. Herbert, author 
of the " Cavaliers of England," &c, &c. Fourteenth Edition. 
Revised and Corrected. 

" This is one of the best works of the kind we have ever read — full of thrilling inci- 
Jents and adventures in the stirring times of Cromwell, and in that style which has 
made the works of Mr. Herbert so popular." — Christian Freeman, Boston. 

41 The work is distinguished by the same historical knowledge, thrilling incident, and 
pictorial beauty of style, which havt characterized all Mr. Herbert's fictions and imparted 
to them such a bewitching interest." — Yankee Blade. 

" The author out of a simple plot and very few characters, has constructed a novci 
cf deep interest and of considerable historical value. It wili be found well worth 
read \ng "—National JLg is, Worcester. 



KEDFIELD S NEW AND POPULAR PUBLICATIONS. 

MOORE'S LIFE OF SHERIDAN. 
Memoirs of the Life of the lit. Hon. Richard Brinsley Shendan, 
by Thomas Moore, with Portrait after Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
Two vols., 12mo, cloth, $2.00. 

" One of the most brilliant biographies in English literature. It is the life of a wil 
written by a wit, and few of Tom Moore's most sparkling poems are more brilliant and 
r ascinating than this biography." — Boston Transcript. 

" This is at once a most valuable biography of the most celebrated wit of the times, 
nd one of the most entertaining works of its gifted author." — Springfield Republican. 

" The Life of Sheridan, the wit, contains as much food for serious thought as the 
best sermon that was ever penned." — Arthur's Home Gazette. 

" The sketch of such a character and career as Sheridan's by sue !iand as Moore's, 
can never cease to be attractive." — N. Y. Courier and Enquirer. 

" The work is instructive and full of interest." — Christian Intelligencer. 

" It is a gem of biography ; full of incident, elegantly written, warmly appreciative, 
and on the whole candid and just. Sheridan was a rare and wonderiul genius, and haa 
in this work justice done to his surpassing merits."— N. Y. Evangelist. 



BARRINGTON'S SKETCHES. 

Personal Sketches of his own Time, by Sir Jonah Baerington, 
Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in Ireland, with Illustra- 
tions by Darley. Third Edition, 12mo, cloth, $1 25. 

" A more entertaining book than this '*■ not often thrown in our way. His sketches 
of character are inimitable ; and many of the prominent men of bis time are hit ofl'ia 
the most striking and graceful outline." — Albany Argus. 

" He was a very shrewd observer and eccentric writer, and his narrative of his owu 
life, and sketches of society in Ireland during his times, are exceedingly humorous and 
interesting." — N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 

" It is one of those works which are conceived and written in so hearty a view, and 
brings before the reader so many palpable and amusing characters, that the entertain 
ment and information are equally balanced."— Boston Transcript. 

" This is one of the most entertaining books of the season." — jV. Y. Recorder. 

"It portrays in life-like colors the characters and daily habits of nearly all the Eng 
lish and Irish celebrities of that period."— N. Y. Courier and Enquirer. 



JOMINFS CAMPAIGN OF WATERLOO. 

The Political and Military History of the Campaign of Waterloo 
from the French of Gen. Baron Jomini, by Lieut. S 'V. Benet 
U. S. Ordnance, with a Map, 12mo, cloth, 75 cents. 

"Of great value, both for its historical merit and its acknowledged impartiality."— 
Christian Freeman, Boston. 

" It has long been regarded in Europe as a work of more than ordinary merit, while 
to military men his review of the tactics and manoeuvres of the French Emperor dur- 
ing the few days which preceded his final and most disastrous defeat, is considered aa 
instructive, as it is interesting."— Arthur's Home Gazette. 

" It is a standard authority and illustrates a subject of permanent interest. WitVi 
military students, and historical inquirers, it will be a favorite reference, and for V^s 
general reader it possesses great value and interest." — Bosto?i Transcript. 

" It throws much light on often mooted points respecting Napoleon's military -iiid 
political genius. The translation is one of much vigor." — Boston Commonwealth. 

" It supplies an important chapter in the most interesting and eventful period o ! >**• 
poleon's military career." — Savannah Daily News. 

* It is ably written and skilfully translated." — Yankee Blade. 



KEDFIELDS NEW AND POPULAR. PUBL;<JATIONS. 



SKETCHES OF THE IRISH BAR. 

By the Right Hon. Richard Lalor Sheil, M. P. Edited with 
a Memoir and Notes, by Dr. Shelton Mackenzie. Fourth 
Edition. In 2 vols. Price $2 00. 

" They attracted universal attention by their brilliant and pointed style, and their lib 

erality of sentiment. The Notes embody a great amount of biographical information, 

terary gossip, legal and political anecdote, and amusing reminiscences, and, in fact, 

omit nothing that is essential to the perfect elucidation of the text."— New York Tribune. 

" They are the best edited books we have met for many a year. They form, with 
Mackenzie's notes, a complete biographical dictionary, containing succinct and clever 
sketches of all the famous people of England, and particularly of~Ireiand, to whom the 
slightest allusions are made in the text." — The Citizen {John Mitchel). 

" D-r. Mackenzie deserves the thanks of men of letters, particularly of Irishmen, for 
his research and care. Altogether, the work is one we can recommend in the highest 
terms." — Philadelphia City Item. 

"Such a repertory of wit, humor, anecdote, and out-gushing: fun, min sled with the 
deepest pathos, when we reflect upon the sad fate of Ireland, as this book affords, it were 
hard to find written in any other pair of covers." — Buffalo Daily Courier. 

"As a whole, a more sparkling lively series of portraits was hardly ever set in a single 
gallery It is Irish all over ; the wit, the folly, the extravagance, and the fire are al 
alike characteristic of writer and subjects." — New York Evangelist. 

"These volumes afford a rich treat to the lovers of literature." — Hartford Christian Sec 




CLASSIC AND HISTORIC PORTRAITS. 
By James Bruce. 12mo, cloth, $1 00. 

" A series of personal sketches of distinguished individuals of all ages, embracing pen 
and ink portraits of near sixty persons from Sappho down to Madame de Stael. They 
show much research, and possess that interest which attaches to the private life of those 
whose names are known to fame." — New Haven Journal and Courier. 

"They are comprehensive, well-written, and judicious, both in the selection of sub- 
jects and the manner of treating them." — Boston Atlas. 

" The author has painted in minute touches the characteristics of each with various 
personal details, all interesting, and all calculated to furnish to the mind's eye a complete 
portraiture of the individual described." — Albany Knickerbocker. 

" The sketches are full and graphic, many authorities having evidently been consulted 
by the author in their preparation." — Boston Journal. 



THE WORKINGMANS WAY IN THE WORLD. 

Being the Autobiography of a Journeyman Printer. By Charles 
Manby Smith, author of "Curiosities of London Life." 12mo, 
cloth, $1 00. 

" Written by a man of genius and of most extraordinary powers of description." — 
Boston Traveller. 

" It will be read with no small degree of interest by the professional brethren cf the 
author, as well as by all who find attractions in a well-told tale of a workingman." — 
Bjston Atlas. 

" An amusing as well as instructive book, telling how humble obscurity cuts its way 
through the world with energy, perseverance, and integrity.*' — Albany Knickerbocker. 

"The book is the most entertaining we have met with for months."— Philadelphia 
Evening Bulletin. 

•' He has evidently moved through the world with his eyes orv»n and having a vein 
of humor in his nature, has written one of the most readable doors oi the 6ea«OD s 
Zicn's Herald. 



redfield's new and popular publications. 

RUSSO-TURKISH CAMPAIGNS OF 1828 AND 1S29. 

With a View of the Present State of Affairs in the East. By 
Colonel Chesney, R.A., D. C. L., F.R. S., Author of the 
Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris. 
"With an Appendix, containing the Diplomatic Correspondence 
of the Four Powers and the Secret Correspondence between the 
Prussian and English Governments. One vol., 12mo, cloth; 
Maps ; price $1.00. 

" A condensed detail of facts, and the result of personal observation, it is replete with 
instructive matter : a record of one of the most striking events in modern history; a 
guide to the formation of correct judgment on the future. Good maps, and minute 
descriptions of tbe principal seats of the past and present war; a statistical account of 
the military resources of Turkey ; its present state and prospects ; its political and 
commercial value— occupy an interesting portion of the work, which we heartily recom- 
mend to the attention of our readers." — London Critic. 

" It fills up a vacant niche in the history of the times which seems to be required to 
give a proper understanding of the difficulties which have resulted in the present Euro- 
pean war." — Springfield Post. 

" This work, which, under any circumstances, would have excited great interest, is 
worthy of special attention now, from its relation to the eastern contest." — Albany Argus. 

" Though abounding in information, it is clear, straightforward, and as free from over- 
statement and irrevelant speculations as the 'Commentaries of Caesar'" — New York 
Evening Post. 



THE RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA, 

With a Voyage down the Volga and a Tour through the Country 
of the Cossacks. By Laurence Oliphant, Author of " A Jour- 
ney to Nepaul." From the Third London Revised and Enlarged 
Edition. 12mo, cloth; Two Maps and 18 Cuts; price 75 cents. 

" The latest and best account of the actual state of Russia." — London Standard. 

" The book of a quick and honest observer. Full of delightful entertainment."— Lon- 
don Examiner. 

" Mr. Oliphant is an acute observer, and intelligent man, a clear and vigorous and suc- 
cinct writer, and his book embodies the best account of Southern Russia that has ever 
appeared. His account of Sevastopol will find many interested readers." — Boston Atlas. 

" This book reminds us more of Stephen's delightful ' Incidents of Travel' than any 
other book with which we are acquainted. It is an interesting and valuable book. He 
was as sharp at seeing as a live Yankee, and he has given us the fruits of his observations 
in a very graphic and interesting style." — Boston Traveller 



A YEAR WITH THE TURKS; 

Or, Sketches of Travel in the European and Asiatic Dominions 
of the Sultan. By Warrington W. Smith, M.A. With a 
Colored Ethnological Map of Turkey. 12mo, cloth ; price 75 cts. 

" Mr. Smith has had rare opportunities. Few men have crossed and recrossed the 
empire in so many directions — and many are the errors, the false reports, the miscon- 
ceptions as to fact or motive which are here corrected by an able and impartial wit- 
ness." — London Athcnaum. 

" One of the freshest and best books of travel on the Sultan's dominions." — New York 
Commercial Advertiser. 

" The reader obtains an excellent and reliable idea of the actual condition of the peo- 
ple, of the mongrel races, and the present state of the Sultan's dominions. There is a 
vivid interest in the narrative, and abundance of real information." — Boston Transcript 



REDFIELD'S NEW AND POPULAR PUBLICATIONS 



CLOVERNOOK; 

Or, Recollections of our Neighborhood in the West. By Alicr 
Caret. Illustrated by Darley. One vol., I2mo., price $1.00. 
(Fourth edition.) 

" In this volume there is a freshness which perpetually charms the reader. You seem 
{-> be made free of western homes at once." — Old Colony Memorial. 

" They bear the true stamp of genius— simple, natural, truthful — and evince a kren 
e.mse of the humor and pathos, of the comedy and tragedy, of life in the country."— J 
G Whittier. 



BREAM-LAND BY DAY-LIGHT: 

A Panorama of Romance. By Caroline Chesebho'. Illustrated 
by Darley. One vol., 12mo., price $1.25. (Second edition.) 

" These simple and beautiful stories are all highly endued with an exquisite percep- 
tion of natural beauty, with which is combined an appreciative sense of its relation to 
the highest moral emotions."— Albany State Register. 

" Gladly do we greet this floweret in the field of our literature, for it is fragrant with 
sweet and bright with hues that mark it to be of Heaven's own planting." — Courier and 
Enquirer. 

"There is a depth of sentiment and feeling not ordinarily met with, and some of tha 
noblest faculties and affections of man's nature are depicted and illustrated by the skil- 
ful pen of the authoress." — Churchman. 



i 



LAYS OF THE SCOTTISH CAVALIERS. 

By William E. Aytoun, Professor of Literature and Belles-Let 
tres in the University of Edinburgh and Editor of Blackwood's 
Magazine. One vol., 12mo. cloth, price $1.00. 

" Since Lockhart and Macaulay's ballads, we have had no metrical work to be com- 
pared in spirit, vigor, and rhythm with this. These ballads knbcdy and embalm the 
chief historical incidents of Scottish history— literally in 'thoughts that breathe and 
words that burn.' They are full of lyric energy, graphic description, and genuine feel 
mg." — Home Journal. 

" The fine ballad of ' Montrose' in this collection is alone worth the price of the book.' 
Boston. Transcript. 



qA. 



THE BOOK OF BALLADS. 
By Bon Gaultier. One volume, 12mo., cloth, price 75 cents. 

'Here is a book for everybody who loves classic fun. It is made up of ballads of 
11 sorts, each a capital parody upon the style of some one of the best lyric writers of 
Ihe lime, from the thundering versification of Lockhart and Macaulay to the sweetest 
and simplest strains of Wordsworth and Tennyson. The author is one of the fir si 
scholars, and one of the most finished writers of the day, and this production is but the 
frolic of his genius in play-time" — Courier and Enquirer. 

" We do not know to whom belongs this nom de plume, but he is certainly a hunaorisl 
of no common power." — Providence Journal. 



redfield's new and popular publications. 



LEE'S TALES OF LAB OB. 



SUMMERFIELD; 

Or, Life on a Farm. By Day Kellogg Lee. One vol., 12mc; 

price $1.00. 

" We have read it with lively and satisfied interest. The scenes are natural, the char. 
Rcters homely and life-like, and the narrative replete with passages of the profoundest 
pathos, and incidents of almost painful interest. Above all, ' Summerfield' is in the 
deepest sense religious, and calculated to exert a strong and wholesome moral influence 
on irs readers, who we trust will be many." — Horace Greeley. 

" It aims to teach the lesson of contentment, and the rural picture which it draws, and 
the scenes of home happiness with which it makes us acquainted, are well calculated to 
enforce it." — Atlas. 

" There is a great deed of life and nature in the story, and in some of the scenes there 
is a rich display of wit." — Albany Argus. 

" It has a flavor of originality, and the descriptions are generally excellent; and, what 
is something of a peculiarity at present in writing of this kind, not overburdened with 
words." — Literary World. 



THE MASTER BUILDER] 

Or, Life at a Trade. By Day Kellogg Lee. One vol., 12mo; 
price $1.00. 

"He is a powerful and graphic writer, and from what we have seen in the pages of 
the ' Master Builder,' it is a romance of excellent aim and success." — State Register. 

" The ' Master Builder' is the master production. It is romance into which is instilled 
the realities of life ; and incentives are put forth to noble exertion and virtue. The 
story is pleasing — almost fascinating ; the moral is pure and undefiled." — Daily Times. 

" Its descriptions are, many of them, strikingly beautiful ; commingling in good pro- 
portions, the witty, the grotesque, the pathetic, and the heroic. It may be read with 
profit as well as pleasure." — Argus. 

" The work before us will commend itself to the masses, depicting as it does most 
graphically the struggles and privations which await the unknown and uncared-foj 
Mechanic in his journey through life. It is what might be called a romance, but not o( 
love, jealousy, and revenge order." — Lockport Courier. 

"The whole scheme of the story is well worked up and very instructive." — Albany 
Express. 




MERRIMAC; 

Or, Life at the Loom. By Day Kellogg Lee. One vol., 12mo ; 
price $1.00. 

"Anew volume of the series of popular stories which have already gained a well- 
deserved reputation for the author. As a picture of an important and unique phase of 
New England life, the work is very interesting, and can scarcely fail of popularity among 
the million." — Harper's Magazine. 

" The work is extremely well written. It is as interesting as a novel, while it is natu- 
ral as every-day life." — Boston Traveller. 

" Merrimac is a story which, by its simple pathos, and truthfulness to nature, will 
touch the heart of every reader. It is free from the least tinge of that odious stilted 
style of thought and diction characteristic of the majority of the novels with which the 
reading public are deluged." — N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 

" Another plain, straightforward, absorbing work from a pen which before has added 
riches to our literature, and honor to him who wielded it." — Buffalo Express. 

" it is written in a genial spirit and abounds in humor." — N. Y. Courier and Enquirer, 



KCDFIELDS NEW AND POPULAR PUBLICATIONS. 

SIMMS' REVOLUTIONARY TALES. 

UNIFORM SERIES. 

New and entirely Revised Edition of William Gilmore Simms' 
Romances of the Revo ution, with Illustrations by Darlet. 
Each complete in one vol., 12mo, cloth ; price $1.25. 

I. THE PARTISAN. III. KATHARINE WALTON. (In pre«.) 

II. MELLICHAMPE. IV. THE SCOUT. (In press.) 

V. WOODCRAFT. (In press.) 

" The field of Revolutionary Romance was a rich one, and Mr. Simms has worked it 
admirably." — Louisville Journal. 

" But few novelists of the age evince more power in the conception of a story, more 
artistic skill in its management, or more naturalness in the final denouement than Mr 
Slmms." — Mobile Daily Advertiser. 

" Not only par excellence the literary man of the South, but next to no romance writer 
in America." — Albany Knickerbocker. 

"Simms is a popular writer, and his romances are highly creditable to American 
literature." — Boston Olive Branch. 

"These books are replete with daring and thrilling adventures, principally drawn 
from history." — Boston Christian Freeman. 

"We take pleasure in noticing another of the series which Redfield is presenting to 
the country of the brilliant productions of one of the very ablest of our American 
authors — of one indeed who, in his peculiar sphere, is inimitable. This volume is a 
continuation of 'The Partisan.' " — Philadelphia American Courier. 

ALSO UNIFORM WITH THE ABOVE 

THE YEMASSEE, 

A Romance of South Carolina. By ¥m. Gilmore Simms. New 
and entirely Revised Edition, with Illustrations by Darley. 12mo, 
cloth; price $1.25. 

' : In interest, it is second to but few romances in the language; in power, it holds a 
high rank ; in healthmlness of style, it furnishes an example worthy of emulation." — 
Gteene County Whig. 



SIMMS' POETICAL WORKS. 

Poems : Descriptive, Dramatic, Legendary, and Contemplative. 
By Wm. Gilmore Simms. With a portrait on steel. 2 vols., 
12mo, cloth; price $2.50. 

Contents : Norman Maurice ; a Tragedy. — Atalantis ; a Tale of the Sea. — Tales and 
Traditions of the South.— The City of the Silent— Southern Passages and Pictures.— 
Historical and Dramatic Sketches.— Scripture Legends.— Francesca da Rimini, etc. 

"We are glad to see the poems of our best Southern author collected in two hand- 
some volumes. Here we have embalmed in graphic and melodious verse the scenic 
wonders and charms of the South ; and this feature of the work alone gives it a per- 
manent and special value. None can read ' Southern Passages and Pictures' without 
feeling that therein the poetic aspects, association, and sentiment of Southern life and 
scenery are vitally enshrined. 'Norman Maurice' is a dramatic poem of peculiar scope 
and unusual interest; and 'Atalantis,' a poem upon which some of the author's finest 
powers of thought and expression are richly lavished. None .of our poets oiler so great 
a variety of style or a more original choice of subjects."— Boston Traveller. 

" His versification is fluent and mellifluous, yet not lacking in point of vigor when nn 
energetic style is requisite to the subject."— N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 

"Mr. Simms ranks among the first poets of our country, and these well-printed 
volumes contain poetical productions of rare merit." — Washington (IK C) Star. 



THE NOCTES AMBRQSUM; 

With Portraits of Wilson, Lockhart, Maginn, Hogg, and fag-similes. 
EDITED, WITH MEMOIRS, NOTES, AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 

BY DR. SHELTON MACKENZIE, 

Editor of Sheil's " Sk "i'ches of the Ikish Bar." 
5 Vols., 12tmo., cloth. Price $5.00. 

The Noctes -were commenced in 1822, and closed in 1335. Even in England, the lapse 
of years has obscured many circumstances which were well known thirty °v«»ars' ago. 

Dr. Si-ielton Mackenzie, already favorably known as editor of Shell's "Sketches of 
the Irish Bar," has undertaken the editorship of The Noctes Ambrosiaxje, for which u 
familiar acquaintance, during the last twenty-five years, with the persons, events, and 
places therein noticed may be assumed to qualify him. He has been on terms of intimacy 
with most of the eminent political and literary characters treated of in the "Noctes " 
and his annotation of the text will include personal recollections of them. 

Besides this, Dr. Mackenzie has written for this edition a "History of the Rise and Pro- 
gress of Blackwood's Magazine," with original memoirs of the principal accredited authors 
of the "Noctes," via :— Professor Wilson, The Ettrick Shepherd, J. G. Lockhart, and 
Dr. Maginn. 

He will also give the celebrated " Chaldee Manuscript," published in 1SI7, instantly 
suppressed, and so scarce that the only copy which the editor has ever seen is that from 
which he makes the present reprint. There will also be given the three articles, entitled 
" Christopher in the Tent,'*" (in August and September, 1819), never before printed, in 
any shape, in this country. The interlocutors in " The Tent," include the greater number 
of those afterwards introduced in the " Noctes." 

The "Met'ricum Symphosium Ambrosianum," — an addendum to No. III. of "The 
Noctes," (and which notices every living author of note, in the year 1822), will be in 
corporated in this edition. This has never before been reprinted here. 



Nearly Ready, in Tivo Volumes. 

THE 0D0HERTY PAPERS, 

forming the first portion of the miscellaneous writings of the late 

DR. MAGINN. 

WITH AN ORIGINAL MEMOIR AND COPIOUS NOTES, BT 

DR. SHELTON MACKENZIE. 



For more than a quarter of a century, the most remarkable magazine writer of his 
time, was the late William Maginn, LL.D., well-known as the Sir Morgan Odoherty of 
Ulackicoocfs Magazine, and as the principal contributor, for many years, to Fraser's 
and other periodicals. The combined learning, wit, eloquence, eccentricity, and humor 
of Maginn, had obtained for him., long before his death, (in 1843), the title of The 
Modern Rabelais. His magazine articles possess extraordinary merit. He had the 
art of putting a vast quantity of animal spirits upon paper, but his graver articles — which 
contain sound and serious principles of criticism — are earnest and well-reasoned. 

The collection now in hand will contain his Facetiae (in a variety of languages), Trans- 
lations, Travesties, and Original Poetry, also his prose Tales, which are eminently beauti- 
ful , the best of his critical articles, (including his celebrated Shakspeare Papers), and 
his Homeric Ballads. The periodicals in which he wrote have been ransacked, from 
" Blackwood" to "Punch," and the result will be a series of great interest. 

Dr. Shelton Mackenzie, who has undertaken the editorship of these writings of his 
distinguished countryman, will spare neither labor nor attention in the work. The 
first volume will contain an original Memoir of Dr. Maginn, written by Dr. Mackenzie, 
and a characteristic Portrait, with fac-simile. 

Published by J, S. REDFIELD, 
110 & 112 Nassau-street, New York. 



kedfikld's new and popular publications. 
" SHAKESPEARE AS HE WEOTE IT." 

THE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE, 

Reprinted from the newly- discovered copy of the Folio of 1G32 
in the possession of J. Payn Collier, containing nearly 

Twenty Thousand Manuscript Corrections, 

With a History of tlie Stage to the Time, an Introduction to 
each Play, a Life of the Poet, etc. 

By J. PAYNE COLLIER, F.S.A. 

To which are added, Glossarial and other Notes, the Readings of Former 
Editions, a Portrait after that by Martin Droeshout, a Vignette Titlb 
on Steel, and a Facsimile of the Old Folio, with the Manuscript Cor- 
rections. 1 vol, Imperial 8vo. Cloth $4 00. 

The WORKS OF SHAKE SPE AEE the same as the above 
Uniform in Size with the celebrated Chiswick Edition, 8 vols. 
16 mo, cloth $6 00. Half calf or moroc. extra 

These are American Copyright Editions, the Notes being expressly prepared 
for the work. The English edition contains simply the text, without a single 
note or indication of the changes made in the text. In the present, the vari- 
ations from old copies are noted by reference of all changes to former editions 
(abbreviated f. e.), and every indication and explanation is given essential to a 
clear understanding of the author. The prefatory matter, Life, &c, will be fuliei 
than in any American edition now published. 

"This is the only correct edition of the works of the 'Bard of Avon' ever issued, 
and no lover or student of Shakespeare should be without it." — Philadelphia Argus. 

" Altogether the most correct and therefore the most valuable edition extant." — Alba- 
ny Express. 

" This edition of Shakespeare will ultimately supersede all others. It must certainly 
be deemed an essential acquisition by every lover of the great dramatist." — N. ¥. Com- 
mercial Advertiser. 

"This great work commends itself in the highest terms to every Shakespearian schol 
ar and student." — Philadelphia City Item. 

" This edition embraces all that is necessary to make a copy of Shakespeare desirable 
and correct." — Niagara Democrat. 

" It must sooner or later drive all others from the market." — N. Y. Evening Post. 

" Beyond all question, the very best edition of the great bard hitherto published." — 
New England Religious Herald. 

'« It must hereafter be the standard edition of Shakespeare's plays." — National Argus. 

" It is clear from internal evidence that they are genuine restorations of the origi 
nal plays." — Detroit Daily Times. 

"This must we think supersede all other editions of Shakespeare hitherto publisbe 1 
Collier's corrections make it really a different work from its predecessors. Compared 
with it we consider them hardly worth possessing." — Daily Georgian, Savannah. 

«' One \?ho will probably hereafter be considered as the only true authority. No ono 
we think, will wish to Purchase an edition of Shakespeare, except it shall be conform- 
able to the amended text Dy Collier." — Newark Daily Advertiser. 

" A great outcry has been made in England against this edition of the bard, by Sin- 
ger and others interested in other editions ; but the emendations commend themselves 
too strongly to the good sense of every reader to be dropped by Ihe public — the old 
editions must become obsolete." — Yankee Blade, Boston. 



Memoirs of a Distinguished Financier. 



FIFTY YEARS 
IN" BOTH HEMISPHEEE8; 

OR, REMINISCENCES OF A MERCHANT'S LIFE. 

By Vincent Nolte. 12mo. Price $1.25. [Eighth Edition] 

The following, being a few of the more prominent names introduced in 
the work, will show the nature and extent of personal and anecdotal inter- 
est exhibited in its pages : — 

Aaron Burr ; General Jackson ; John Jacob Astor ; Stephen Girard ; 
La Fayette ; Audubon ; the Barings ; Robert Fulton ; David Parish ; Sam- 
uel Swartwout ; Lord Aberdeen ; Peter K. Wagner ; Napoleon ; Paul 
Delaroche ; Sir Francis Chantry ; Queen Victoria ; Horace Vernet ; Major 
General Scott ; Mr. Saul ; Lafitte ; John Quincy Adams ; Edward Living- 
ston ; John R. Grymes ; Auguste Davezac ; General Moreau ; Gouverneur 
Morris ; J. J. Ouvrard ; Messrs. Hope & Co. ; General Claiborne ; Marshal 
Soult; Chateaubriand; Le Roy de Chaumont ; Duke of Wellington ; Wil- 
liam M. Price; P. C. Labouchere ; Ingres; Charles VI., of Spain; Mar- 
shal Blucher ; Nicholas Biddle ; Manuel Godoy ; Villele ; Lord Eldon ; 
Emperor Alexander, etc. etc. 

" He seldom looks at the bright side of a character, and dearly loves — he 
confesses it — a bit of scandal. But he paints well, describes well, seizes 
characteristics which make clear to the reader the nature of the man whom 
they illustrate." 

The memoirs of a man of a singularly adventurous and speculative turn, -who entered 
upon the occupations of manhood early, and retained its energies late ; has been an eye- 
witness of not a few of the important events that occurred in Europe and America be- 
tween the years 1796 and 1850, and himself a sharer in more than one of them ; who has 
been associated, or an agent in some of the largest commercial and financial operations 
that British and Dutch capital and enterprise ever ventured upon, and has been brought 
into contact and acquaintance— not unfrequently into intimacy — with a number of the 
remarkable men of his time. Seldom, either in print or in the flesh, have we fallen in 
with so restless, versatile and excursive a genius as Vincent Nolte, Esq., of Europe and 
America — no more limited address will sufficiently express his cosmopolitan domicile. — 
Blackwood's Magazine. 

As a reflection of real life, a book stamped with a strong personal character, and filled 
with unique details of a large experience of private and public interest, we unhesita- 
tingly call attention to it as one of the most note-worthy productions of the day. — Jfew 
York Churchman. 

Our old merchants and politicians will find it very amusing, and it will excite vivid 
reminiscences of men and things forty years ago. "We might criticise the hap-hazard 
and dare-devil spirit of the author, but the raciness of his anecdotes is the result of these 
very defects. — Boston Transcript. 

His autobiography presents a spicy variety of incident and adventure, and a great deal 
of really useful and interesting information, all the more acceptable for the profusion of 
anecdote and piquant scandal with which it is interspersed. — N. Y. Jour, of Commerce. 

Not the least interesting portion of the work, to us here, is the narration of Nolte's 
intercourse with our great men, and his piquant and occasionally ill-natured notice of 
their faults and foibles. — N. Y. Herald. 

It is a vivid chronicle of varied and remarkable experiences, and will serve to rectify 
the errors which too often pass amonsj men as veritable history. — Evening Post. 

The anecdotes, declamations, sentiments, descriptions, and whole tone of the book, 
are vivacious and genuine, and, making allowance for obvious prejudices, graphic and 
reliable. To the old it will be wonderfully suggestive, to the young curiously inform- 
ing, and to both rich in entertainment. — Boston Atlas. 

As an amusing narrative, it would be difficult to find its superior ; but the book has 
peculiar interest from the freedom with which the author shows up our American noto- 
rieties of the past forty years. — Courier 



